Guardsman earns medal for saving lives
Staff and wire reports
Posted : Saturday Aug 7, 2010 10:50:30 EDT
A member of the Virginia Army National Guard has received the Soldier’s Medal for heroism after a boating accident on the Chesapeake Bay off Virginia.
Chief Warrant Officer Clifford Bauman received the Soldier’s Medal on July 24 for saving the lives of three men during the October 2009 incident.
The award is the Army’s highest for noncombat-related actions.
Bauman is serving an active-duty tour with the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va.
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Guardsman earns medal for saving lives
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Veteran's charity chief used stolen identity
Veteran's charity chief used stolen identity while misdirecting funds to GOP
Alysse Dalessandro
Aug 6th 2010 at 6:00PM
A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for the former director of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a man known as "Bobby Thompson" whom investigators now believe used a stolen identity to commit widespread fraud.
"The real Bobby Thompson, whose identity was stolen, including his Social Security number and date of birth, has absolutely no connection to the U.S. Navy Veterans Association,"
See full article from WalletPop: Veterans charity chief used stolen identity
Alysse Dalessandro
Aug 6th 2010 at 6:00PM
A nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for the former director of the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a man known as "Bobby Thompson" whom investigators now believe used a stolen identity to commit widespread fraud.
"The real Bobby Thompson, whose identity was stolen, including his Social Security number and date of birth, has absolutely no connection to the U.S. Navy Veterans Association,"
See full article from WalletPop: Veterans charity chief used stolen identity
10 Aid Workers, Including 6 Americans, Killed in Afghanistan
10 Aid Workers, Including 6 Americans, Killed in Afghanistan
An international Christian charity says militants have killed 10 of its aid workers, including six Americans, in a remote area of northern Afghanistan.
The director of the International Assistance Mission charity, Dirk Frans, said the group's medical team was last heard from Wednesday as the aid workers were returning to Kabul from an eye clinic in Nuristan.
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10 Aid Workers Including 6 Americans Killed in Afghanistan
An international Christian charity says militants have killed 10 of its aid workers, including six Americans, in a remote area of northern Afghanistan.
The director of the International Assistance Mission charity, Dirk Frans, said the group's medical team was last heard from Wednesday as the aid workers were returning to Kabul from an eye clinic in Nuristan.
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10 Aid Workers Including 6 Americans Killed in Afghanistan
Military Veterans Combat PTSD with faith
If you just read this and think it makes sense, you need to think a bit more deeply on the subject. The view of the military chaplains and Campus Crusades for Christ has always been the same, yet they never consider they very well could be wrong. Not wrong on believing Christ can heal or that faith can move mountains. The way they are wrong is in more how they are approaching PTSD and healing than anything else. If they were right on how they treat the servicemen and women, then the rates would have not been increasing. While the mission maybe correct, the plan is full of flaws.
First on the list should be to get them to understand the difference between being a victim of God's wrath and judgement vs being a survivor by His grace. If they view their relationship with God and Christ as being embraced by an ever merciful Father, then they walk away from trauma feeling as if He watched over them instead of doing it to them. If they believe God has abandoned them, then they lose hope and turn blame inward.
While God did not save the lives of all their friends, He did save some who returned home with missing limbs, burns and other serious wounds, and He also saved them. We don't know why God saves some and takes others home to His side. We do know that God's plans for us are always subject to our willingness and the actions of others getting in our way. God will not mess with freewill but He will come up with Plan B to get us to where He wants us to be if we are willing.
Second on the list is getting them to forgive themselves while understanding there is nothing they cannot be forgiven for because Christ paid the price. Christ forgave the people who nailed Him to the cross and called for Him to be crucified, yet some carry guilt over what they had to do and forget they are forgiven. They also forget that God created a warrior before He created man and that warrior is the archangel Michael. God knew there would always have to be warriors to defend against enemies. The bible is filled with warriors few remember as such when they are fondly remembered as just heroes of the bible.
Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, the list goes on of warriors and warfare in the ancient world. The spiritual struggles documented in the pages of the Old Testament and within the Psalms but many readers pass over these accounts. War is horrible, ugly and evil acts are committed. Many wonder where God is when they see the worst man is capable of forgetting that each and every man has freewill to do good or evil. They cannot see that God walks among them.
God is there when someone tries to save a life. God is there when someone weeps for the death of his enemy. God is there when someone kneels by the side of a fallen brother and cries out in anguish. God is there when someone shows compassion to their enemy. Above all that, God is there when any of them still retain compassion in their soul and grieve after being touched by so much horror.
There is so much they are not being told by their spiritual leaders in the military and even when they come home that it is reflected in the rise of suicides as well as attempted suicides. People do not go from being willing to die for the sake of their friends to being suicidal for no reason at all. It is a spiritual pain that has not been eased by those they have turned to for help.
First on the list should be to get them to understand the difference between being a victim of God's wrath and judgement vs being a survivor by His grace. If they view their relationship with God and Christ as being embraced by an ever merciful Father, then they walk away from trauma feeling as if He watched over them instead of doing it to them. If they believe God has abandoned them, then they lose hope and turn blame inward.
While God did not save the lives of all their friends, He did save some who returned home with missing limbs, burns and other serious wounds, and He also saved them. We don't know why God saves some and takes others home to His side. We do know that God's plans for us are always subject to our willingness and the actions of others getting in our way. God will not mess with freewill but He will come up with Plan B to get us to where He wants us to be if we are willing.
Second on the list is getting them to forgive themselves while understanding there is nothing they cannot be forgiven for because Christ paid the price. Christ forgave the people who nailed Him to the cross and called for Him to be crucified, yet some carry guilt over what they had to do and forget they are forgiven. They also forget that God created a warrior before He created man and that warrior is the archangel Michael. God knew there would always have to be warriors to defend against enemies. The bible is filled with warriors few remember as such when they are fondly remembered as just heroes of the bible.
Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, the list goes on of warriors and warfare in the ancient world. The spiritual struggles documented in the pages of the Old Testament and within the Psalms but many readers pass over these accounts. War is horrible, ugly and evil acts are committed. Many wonder where God is when they see the worst man is capable of forgetting that each and every man has freewill to do good or evil. They cannot see that God walks among them.
God is there when someone tries to save a life. God is there when someone weeps for the death of his enemy. God is there when someone kneels by the side of a fallen brother and cries out in anguish. God is there when someone shows compassion to their enemy. Above all that, God is there when any of them still retain compassion in their soul and grieve after being touched by so much horror.
There is so much they are not being told by their spiritual leaders in the military and even when they come home that it is reflected in the rise of suicides as well as attempted suicides. People do not go from being willing to die for the sake of their friends to being suicidal for no reason at all. It is a spiritual pain that has not been eased by those they have turned to for help.
Military Veterans Combat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with Faith
By U.S. Editor
Published: August 5, 2010
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. /Christian News/ — New studies are showing a disturbing trend in our nation’s military—as stress becomes an increasingly serious threat to the lives of our soldiers. The latest numbers paint a grim picture, especially when it comes to suicide rates. Last year, 347 military personnel were killed in two wars, but at least 381 current and former members of our military took their own lives.Another alarming statistic that highlighted in a recent USA Today story shows that the number of soldiers forced to leave the Army solely because of a mental illness, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), has increased 64% from 2005 to 2009.
While much needs to be done to help our soldiers deal with the stress of combat, Major General (U.S. Army Ret.) Bob Dees believes faith should play a significant role in the military’s mental health and suicide prevention programs.
read more here
Military Veterans
Grand Forks airman committed suicide
Base officials: Grand Forks airman committed suicide
An airman stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base shot and killed himself Friday, base officials said.
By: Archie Ingersoll, Grand Forks Herald
An airman stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base shot and killed himself Friday, base officials said.
The airman was taken from the base to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, base commander Col. Don Shaffer said.
“We’re deeply saddened this morning with news of the death of one of our airmen,” Shaffer said as he stood outside the main entrance to the base speaking with reporters.
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Grand Forks airman committed suicide
An airman stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base shot and killed himself Friday, base officials said.
By: Archie Ingersoll, Grand Forks Herald
An airman stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base shot and killed himself Friday, base officials said.
The airman was taken from the base to Altru Hospital in Grand Forks where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, base commander Col. Don Shaffer said.
“We’re deeply saddened this morning with news of the death of one of our airmen,” Shaffer said as he stood outside the main entrance to the base speaking with reporters.
read more here
Grand Forks airman committed suicide
Another casualty of war, suicide of Kortney Jensen
Another casualty of war
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Aug 6, 2010 10:49PM
The demons would always be there. Just over his shoulder, just within earshot, just close enough to remind him that his life would never be what it was.
They would keep him from sleeping. They would befuddle him in the midst of simple tasks. And, on occasion, they would entreat him to end it all.
But Kortney Jensen was a fighter. He had endured two tours of duty in Iraq, survived more than 75 roadside bomb detonations and was twice awarded the Purple Heart.
And in this new fight, he was well armed. He had the unconditional support of his family. He was plugged into mental health treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City. And he was looking forward to the future: a friend’s wedding, a vacation with his mother and the birth of his second daughter.
With all of that to live for and more, the 27-year-old Army veteran had made it through some very dark days. He’d beaten back the demons.
But he could not destroy them.
By Matthew D. LaPlante
One irony: Improvements in the way Murchie’s team works to prevent suicide have often come as a result of evaluating where they might have failed veterans like Jensen, who shot himself in the garage of a friend’s home on July 31.
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Aug 6, 2010 10:49PM
The demons would always be there. Just over his shoulder, just within earshot, just close enough to remind him that his life would never be what it was.
They would keep him from sleeping. They would befuddle him in the midst of simple tasks. And, on occasion, they would entreat him to end it all.
But Kortney Jensen was a fighter. He had endured two tours of duty in Iraq, survived more than 75 roadside bomb detonations and was twice awarded the Purple Heart.
And in this new fight, he was well armed. He had the unconditional support of his family. He was plugged into mental health treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Salt Lake City. And he was looking forward to the future: a friend’s wedding, a vacation with his mother and the birth of his second daughter.
With all of that to live for and more, the 27-year-old Army veteran had made it through some very dark days. He’d beaten back the demons.
But he could not destroy them.
But the count is incomplete. The Department of Veterans Affairs believes that more than 6,000 veterans — including many who have served in the nation’s ongoing conflicts — will commit suicide this year. VA officials say many of these deaths are as much a consequence of combat as those resulting immediately from bombs or bullets.
In the long run, the National Institute of Mental Health has estimated, suicide will eclipse roadside bombings as the leading cause of death among those who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those were the same questions Murchie asked following the 2007 suicide of Iraq war veteran Jason Ermer.
Ermer’s mother said the Army abandoned her son, forcing him out of the service after he returned from combat with symptoms of post-traumatic stress. She believes that the care he received from the VA was inconsistent at best — and dehumanizing at worst.read the rest here
Marine survived three tours of combat, killed by driver back home
Marine Killed In Motorcycle Crash
By Nefertiti Jaquez
POSTED: Friday, August 6, 2010
UPDATED: 6:53 am CDT August 6, 2010
ROSENBERG, Texas -- A Marine survived two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan only to lose his life in a crash at home.
"You always hope you wake up and it's a dream, but the reality is he's not gonna be back," father Dwanye Stidman said.
Cpl. David Stidman, 23, returned home to Rosenberg about four months ago.
Instead of spending quality time together, fishing and working at the family's manufacturing business, Dwayne Stidman is making arrangements for his only son's funeral.
"It was very heart-wrenching when I got his belongings back," Stidman said.
Police said the Marine was at the intersection of F.M. 762 and Brazos Center Boulevard at about 12:45 a.m. Monday when his motorcycle was rammed from behind by a pickup truck.
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Marine Killed In Motorcycle Crash
Lt. Col. Lakin racked up medals as flight surgeon
Barack Obama was born in Kenya! Just not the same one that is the President. It was Barack Obama Sr who was born in Kenya and was also a Muslim until he lost faith and became an atheist. But all of this was easy for some to twist around so that it became in their mind the history of the son.
Most of Americans laugh at these "birthers" wondering what it will take to convince them that after all these years of battling political opponents the chances of being able to pull off a massive fraud forming 49 years ago are just about zero. When he ran for the senate, they would have caught him. When he ran for the presidency, there surly would have caught him if any of this were true, especially since politics in this country are all about finding something wrong with a person's personal life if they can't find any dirt on their political life.
Yet when some people talk about him, the forget he did have a Mom and a Dad and his Dad had the same name.
They also said that he was "just" a community organizer and leave out the fact he is a lawyer and was a constitutional law professor plus wrote some books. He was State Senator and the US Senator, then he ran for President.
We may laugh and try to pass them off as a bunch of nuts but some of them are like Lakin. This man has been so convinced that Obama was not born in Hawaii that he is ready to throw it all away.
An honorable man by all accounts, distinguished service to this country, but somehow, someway, somebody lied to him and he believed it. Some in the blog world seem to think he is just trying to get out of deploying but considering what he is willing to lose, that doesn't seem to be a factor. We have to look more deeply into why the "birthers" refuse to accept facts or use common sense. Is it because he's half black? Is it because he's a Democrat? If this was the only rumor out there about him, then it wouldn't be so troublesome.
There is a rumor out there that he is a Muslim even though the same tongues wagged when his pastor Rev. Wright had some fired up sermons and they complained about that.
Maybe the "birthers" can't understand a son being named after a father any more than they can understand what a father does is not what a son does?
Most of Americans laugh at these "birthers" wondering what it will take to convince them that after all these years of battling political opponents the chances of being able to pull off a massive fraud forming 49 years ago are just about zero. When he ran for the senate, they would have caught him. When he ran for the presidency, there surly would have caught him if any of this were true, especially since politics in this country are all about finding something wrong with a person's personal life if they can't find any dirt on their political life.
Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961, at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii.[4][5] His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, of mostly English, but also some German, descent.[6][7][8] His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
Yet when some people talk about him, the forget he did have a Mom and a Dad and his Dad had the same name.
They also said that he was "just" a community organizer and leave out the fact he is a lawyer and was a constitutional law professor plus wrote some books. He was State Senator and the US Senator, then he ran for President.
We may laugh and try to pass them off as a bunch of nuts but some of them are like Lakin. This man has been so convinced that Obama was not born in Hawaii that he is ready to throw it all away.
Before birther row, Lt. Col. Lakin racked up medals as flight surgeon
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
August 6, 2010 2:51 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin accused of missing a plane, refusing to deploy to Afghanistan
Foundation: Certification, birth announcements not the same as birth certificate
Honolulu newspapers, Hawaii's Republican governor have said Obama was born there
Military law expert: It's unlikely court will address Obama's birthplace during court-martial
CNN) -- Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin is a poster soldier for the so-called birther movement, but for 17 years prior to his court-martial proceedings, the flight surgeon served around the globe, racking up a chest full of medals.
Military prosecutors allege that the Colorado native intentionally missed a plane in April after disobeying four lawful orders from superiors. Lakin has said he refused to deploy to Afghanistan until he sees proof that President Obama was born in the U.S.
In a YouTube explanation posted before he was charged, Lakin said he had no choice but the "distasteful one of inviting my own court-martial."
"If [Obama] is ineligible, then indeed, all orders are illegal because all orders have the origin with the commander in chief," he said.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice says the maximum punishment for both offenses -- missing his plane and disobeying lawful orders -- is a dishonorable discharge and up to two years in confinement. A guilty verdict could also result in forfeiture of his pay, which totals $7,959 a month, according to a charge sheet provided by a group sponsoring his defense.
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Lt. Col. Lakin racked up medals as flight surgeon
An honorable man by all accounts, distinguished service to this country, but somehow, someway, somebody lied to him and he believed it. Some in the blog world seem to think he is just trying to get out of deploying but considering what he is willing to lose, that doesn't seem to be a factor. We have to look more deeply into why the "birthers" refuse to accept facts or use common sense. Is it because he's half black? Is it because he's a Democrat? If this was the only rumor out there about him, then it wouldn't be so troublesome.
There is a rumor out there that he is a Muslim even though the same tongues wagged when his pastor Rev. Wright had some fired up sermons and they complained about that.
Obama is a Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household". He describes his mother, raised by non-religious parents (whom Obama has specified elsewhere as "non-practicing Methodists and Baptists") to be detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known".
He describes his father as "raised a Muslim", but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful". Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change".[258] He was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and was an active member there for two decades.[259] Obama resigned from Trinity during the Presidential campaign after controversial statements made by Rev. Jeremiah Wright became public.[260] After a prolonged effort to find a church to attend regularly in Washington, Obama announced in June 2009 that his primary place of worship would be the Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.[261]
Maybe the "birthers" can't understand a son being named after a father any more than they can understand what a father does is not what a son does?
Friday, August 6, 2010
Hearing set for soldier in Obama birth certificate case
Friday, August 6, 2010
Germany-based Air Force officer killed in motorcycle crash
Germany-based Air Force officer killed in motorcycle crash
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 2, 2010
A senior Air Force officer was killed Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle accident near Otterberg, Germany, according to an Air Force news release.
Lt. Col. John Witherow, of Pollock, La., was the chief radiologist assigned to the 86th Medical Group, and was stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center since 2008. He was 39.
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Germany-based Air Force officer killed in motorcycle crash
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 2, 2010
A senior Air Force officer was killed Saturday afternoon in a motorcycle accident near Otterberg, Germany, according to an Air Force news release.
Lt. Col. John Witherow, of Pollock, La., was the chief radiologist assigned to the 86th Medical Group, and was stationed at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center since 2008. He was 39.
go here for more
Germany-based Air Force officer killed in motorcycle crash
Court orders VA to act on new Agent Orange findings
Court orders VA to act on new Agent Orange findings
By Tom Philpott, Special to the Daily Press
1:19 PM EDT, August 5, 2010
An estimated 200,000 Vietnam veterans suffering from three diseases newly associated with exposure to Agent Orange are closer to receiving disability compensation following an appeals court order Aug. 2 directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a final implementing regulation within 30 days.
In response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of veterans' service organizations, the U.S. Court of Appeals instructed the VA to issue by Sept. 1 a final regulation authorizing payment of claims for ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B-cell leukemia for any veteran who stepped foot in Vietnam during the war, or their survivors.
VA has been urging veterans with these diseases to file claims immediately because payments, when they begin, will be retroactive to the filing date. VA lawyers conceded to the court that VA had missed several deadlines set in the Agent Orange Act for reviewing the latest science report and for publishing rules to expand claims eligibility to these diseases.
read more here
Court orders VA to act on new Agent Orange findings
By Tom Philpott, Special to the Daily Press
1:19 PM EDT, August 5, 2010
An estimated 200,000 Vietnam veterans suffering from three diseases newly associated with exposure to Agent Orange are closer to receiving disability compensation following an appeals court order Aug. 2 directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to publish a final implementing regulation within 30 days.
In response to a lawsuit brought by a coalition of veterans' service organizations, the U.S. Court of Appeals instructed the VA to issue by Sept. 1 a final regulation authorizing payment of claims for ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B-cell leukemia for any veteran who stepped foot in Vietnam during the war, or their survivors.
VA has been urging veterans with these diseases to file claims immediately because payments, when they begin, will be retroactive to the filing date. VA lawyers conceded to the court that VA had missed several deadlines set in the Agent Orange Act for reviewing the latest science report and for publishing rules to expand claims eligibility to these diseases.
read more here
Court orders VA to act on new Agent Orange findings
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