Bob Moore Jr. awarded Silver Star 43 years after heroic action in Vietnam
by Geoff Folsom
Marietta Daily Journal
July 17, 2012
MARIETTA — Retired Army Capt. Robert “Bob” Moore Jr. said he was surprised on June 6 to hear he had received the Silver Star for his actions in Vietnam more than four decades ago.
Moore, now 66, said he knew an award application had been resubmitted two years ago, and that the office of U.S. Rep Phil Gingrey (R-Marietta) was working on his behalf. But the application that was submitted sought a Bronze Star, so Moore was taken aback when he found out the Awards and Decorations Branch determined he had earned the Silver Star, the Army’s third highest honor.
“I was stunned. I started crying,” he said. “It brings closure to my Vietnam experience.”
On Friday — the 43rd anniversary of the day when Moore lead his platoon to regroup and secure the area after a booby trap exploded while on a search and destroy mission in the Phan Thiet area east of Saigon — a flag was flown in his honor over the U.S. Capitol in Washington. On Monday, he received the award, as well as the flag, at a half-hour ceremony before 250 people at the Joint Headquarters Building at Clay National Guard Center in Marietta.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Vietnam Vet Doug Sterner, curator of the courageous
A Vietnam vet's growing database and quest to prevent 'forgotten valor'
By CHRIS CARROLL
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 16, 2012
WASHINGTON — Wiry and quick at age 62, Doug Sterner nearly leaped out of his chair to pull a folder off a shelf. It was a list of Army medal recipients that couldn’t possibly exist. Officials believed the only copies of personnel files needed to assemble it — along with some 18 million files in total — were consumed in a fire at a military personnel records center in St. Louis in 1973.
Yet there it was, shelved in a converted bedroom in his Alexandria, Va., apartment with hundreds of other color-coded folders containing more documentation of heroism that might otherwise be forgotten.
“That fire is the biggest dodge,” he said.
Thanks to the Army’s bureaucratic redundancy, most of what he needed to assemble this list was filed at National Archives in College Park, Md. Yet the fire was one of several reasons cited by the Department of Defense for not attempting to assemble a list of military valor medals.
“Anyone who says this can’t be done simply doesn’t have the will to do it,” Sterner said.
For nearly 15 years, as the DOD demurred, Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and former Army combat engineer, did the work himself. He abandoned the mountain views of Pueblo, Colo. — he and his wife had led a drive to change the town’s official nickname to “Home of Heroes” to honor four the city’s four living Medal of Honor recipients — for the northern Virginia suburbs to be closer to existing records.
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By CHRIS CARROLL
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 16, 2012
WASHINGTON — Wiry and quick at age 62, Doug Sterner nearly leaped out of his chair to pull a folder off a shelf. It was a list of Army medal recipients that couldn’t possibly exist. Officials believed the only copies of personnel files needed to assemble it — along with some 18 million files in total — were consumed in a fire at a military personnel records center in St. Louis in 1973.
Yet there it was, shelved in a converted bedroom in his Alexandria, Va., apartment with hundreds of other color-coded folders containing more documentation of heroism that might otherwise be forgotten.
“That fire is the biggest dodge,” he said.
Thanks to the Army’s bureaucratic redundancy, most of what he needed to assemble this list was filed at National Archives in College Park, Md. Yet the fire was one of several reasons cited by the Department of Defense for not attempting to assemble a list of military valor medals.
“Anyone who says this can’t be done simply doesn’t have the will to do it,” Sterner said.
For nearly 15 years, as the DOD demurred, Sterner, a Vietnam veteran and former Army combat engineer, did the work himself. He abandoned the mountain views of Pueblo, Colo. — he and his wife had led a drive to change the town’s official nickname to “Home of Heroes” to honor four the city’s four living Medal of Honor recipients — for the northern Virginia suburbs to be closer to existing records.
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Army probes Wainwright soldier’s death
Army probes Wainwright soldier’s death
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 16, 2012
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Fort Wainwright soldier was pronounced dead at a Fairbanks hospital after being transported there from his barracks with a severe head injury.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Chuck Canterbury on Monday announced the death but few other details from the Sunday incident.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 16, 2012
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Fort Wainwright soldier was pronounced dead at a Fairbanks hospital after being transported there from his barracks with a severe head injury.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Chuck Canterbury on Monday announced the death but few other details from the Sunday incident.
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White House snuffs out pot for PTSD petition
No pot for PTSD, White House says
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jul 17, 2012
An effort to persuade the Obama administration to legalize marijuana for sufferers of post-traumatic stress has met with a sound rejection from the White House.
Responding to a petition signed by 8,258 people on the White House website, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug” and does not meet standards of safe or effective medicine.
“When the President took office, he directed all his policymakers to develop policies on science and research, not ideology or politics,” Kerlikowske wrote.
The White House usually requires 25,000 signatures before it will respond to such petitions.
The “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans Access To Medical Marijuana To Treat Their PTSD” petition was launched last year by former Air Force Sgt. Mike Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.
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By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Jul 17, 2012
An effort to persuade the Obama administration to legalize marijuana for sufferers of post-traumatic stress has met with a sound rejection from the White House.
Responding to a petition signed by 8,258 people on the White House website, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske wrote last month that marijuana is not a “benign drug” and does not meet standards of safe or effective medicine.
“When the President took office, he directed all his policymakers to develop policies on science and research, not ideology or politics,” Kerlikowske wrote.
The White House usually requires 25,000 signatures before it will respond to such petitions.
The “Allow United States Disabled Military Veterans Access To Medical Marijuana To Treat Their PTSD” petition was launched last year by former Air Force Sgt. Mike Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.
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Operation Tyler kicked off by Gary Sinise
Gary Sinise promotes upcoming concert
By MATT EVANS
KBIA
Gary Sinise joined others involved in "Operation Tyler" via Skype at an event Tuesday.
Gary Sinise, also known as Lt. Dan from the movie Forest Gump, will be part of an upcoming benefit concert for veterans. The Lieutenant Dan Band will be playing at Apple Creek Farms on July 27 to raise funds for “Operation Tyler.” It’s a push to put Marine Lance CPL Tyler Huffman, his wife and their two-year-old son into a new, more accessible home.
The 24-year-old Huffman was paralyzed in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was shot by a sniper.
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By MATT EVANS
KBIA
Gary Sinise joined others involved in "Operation Tyler" via Skype at an event Tuesday.
Gary Sinise, also known as Lt. Dan from the movie Forest Gump, will be part of an upcoming benefit concert for veterans. The Lieutenant Dan Band will be playing at Apple Creek Farms on July 27 to raise funds for “Operation Tyler.” It’s a push to put Marine Lance CPL Tyler Huffman, his wife and their two-year-old son into a new, more accessible home.
The 24-year-old Huffman was paralyzed in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was shot by a sniper.
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DeMint holding up bill to treat Marines and families
UPDATE
Lejeune health care bill is unstuck in Senate
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 18, 2012
A stalled veterans’ bill is now on track for Senate passage this week after a small change was made in a landmark program under which the Veterans Affairs Department would provide health care to people suffering from long-term effects of drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Up to 750,000 people who lived or worked on the base from Jan. 1, 1957, through Dec. 31, 1987, would be eligible for care if they have a disability or disease linked to exposure to drinking water found to contain carcinogens.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had used his Senate privileges to put a hold on the bill because it included no provision to allow VA to deny coverage even if an individual’s health problems clearly stemmed from some other cause.
DeMint and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman, reached agreement Wednesday to add a section allowing VA to deny health care if “conclusive evidence” is available to show the individual’s disability or disease had a different cause than exposure to the contaminated drinking water at Lejeune.
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Lejeune health care bill is unstuck in Senate
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 18, 2012
A stalled veterans’ bill is now on track for Senate passage this week after a small change was made in a landmark program under which the Veterans Affairs Department would provide health care to people suffering from long-term effects of drinking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Up to 750,000 people who lived or worked on the base from Jan. 1, 1957, through Dec. 31, 1987, would be eligible for care if they have a disability or disease linked to exposure to drinking water found to contain carcinogens.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., had used his Senate privileges to put a hold on the bill because it included no provision to allow VA to deny coverage even if an individual’s health problems clearly stemmed from some other cause.
DeMint and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairwoman, reached agreement Wednesday to add a section allowing VA to deny health care if “conclusive evidence” is available to show the individual’s disability or disease had a different cause than exposure to the contaminated drinking water at Lejeune.
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Vets bill held up by Lejeune toxic water issue
By Rick Maze
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jul 16, 2012
A South Carolina senator is holding up a landmark veterans’ bill that would provide health care for thousands of people suffering the ill effects of exposure to toxic water at Camp Lejuene because eligibility rules for the new benefits doesn’t include enough safeguards to prevent fraud.
Because of this objection from Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, the Senate has been unable to approve a comprehensive veterans’ bill that was agreed to on June 21 by members of the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committee.
The bill in dispute is the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012.
DeMint was not part of the negotiations, but Senate rules give every senator the power to temporarily block legislation and nominees, a power DeMint is using while trying to renegotiate details about how the Veterans Affairs Department to determine eligibility for health care for people who lived or worked at the Marine Corps base from Jan. 1, 1957 through Dec. 31, 1987.
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Soldiers going to Olympic Games with Army of support
Olympic wrestlers going to London Games with Army of support
POSTED: 07/16/2012
By Lindsay H. Jones
The Denver Post
FORT CARSON — Each day as the three U.S. Olympic wrestlers drive to and from work, they pass signs that serve as a reminder of the lives they have chosen.
"I will never accept defeat" and "I will never quit" are two of the four signs posted near the gates at Fort Carson, the mammoth Army base near Colorado Springs. The signs are part of the "Warrior Ethos," a mantra for all American soldiers. But the mottos mean more for Dremiel Byers, Justin Lester and Spenser Mango as they prepare to wrestle in London at the Summer Olympics.
All three are members of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, active soldiers and national wrestling champions — each with a legitimate shot of winning a medal in their respective weight classes.
"I expect gold medals," Mango said Monday as he looked around the WCAP wrestling gym.
"We've got three of them in the room right now."
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POSTED: 07/16/2012
By Lindsay H. Jones
The Denver Post
FORT CARSON — Each day as the three U.S. Olympic wrestlers drive to and from work, they pass signs that serve as a reminder of the lives they have chosen.
"I will never accept defeat" and "I will never quit" are two of the four signs posted near the gates at Fort Carson, the mammoth Army base near Colorado Springs. The signs are part of the "Warrior Ethos," a mantra for all American soldiers. But the mottos mean more for Dremiel Byers, Justin Lester and Spenser Mango as they prepare to wrestle in London at the Summer Olympics.
All three are members of the Army's World Class Athlete Program, active soldiers and national wrestling champions — each with a legitimate shot of winning a medal in their respective weight classes.
"I expect gold medals," Mango said Monday as he looked around the WCAP wrestling gym.
"We've got three of them in the room right now."
read more here
Facts you don't hear about veterans
If you are a politician and still think veterans don't matter, your staff should have paid attention since you didn't.
Facts you don't hear about veterans.
Snapshot of Our Nation's Veterans
21.8 million veterans
20.2 million are male
1.6 million are female
California has the most veterans at 2 million
Texas and Florida come in second with 1.6 million
92% of veterans 25 and older have high school diploma and 26% have at least a bachelor's degree.
1.3 million served in more than one war
This is the part the reporters should be asking politicians about when they talk about cuts in public sector jobs.
About 14% work in the public sector and then education, healthcare along with social services and manufacturing.
9% of US businesses are owned by veterans with 1.2 trillion employing 5.8 million people.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
Facts you don't hear about veterans.
Snapshot of Our Nation's Veterans
21.8 million veterans
20.2 million are male
1.6 million are female
California has the most veterans at 2 million
Texas and Florida come in second with 1.6 million
92% of veterans 25 and older have high school diploma and 26% have at least a bachelor's degree.
1.3 million served in more than one war
This is the part the reporters should be asking politicians about when they talk about cuts in public sector jobs.
About 14% work in the public sector and then education, healthcare along with social services and manufacturing.
9% of US businesses are owned by veterans with 1.2 trillion employing 5.8 million people.
[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]
Microchip reunites soldier with dog missing for 3 years
Fort Hood soldier’s dog turns up in Ariz. 3 years later
Associated Press
Monday, July 16, 2012
PRESCOTT, Ariz.— A soldier will soon be reunited with her dog, which went missing three years ago in Texas and has been found in northern Arizona.
Prescott police say the unidentified soldier returned from deployment in Iraq in 2009 and asked a friend at Fort Hood to watch her basset hound while she left for a training mission.
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Associated Press
Monday, July 16, 2012
PRESCOTT, Ariz.— A soldier will soon be reunited with her dog, which went missing three years ago in Texas and has been found in northern Arizona.
Prescott police say the unidentified soldier returned from deployment in Iraq in 2009 and asked a friend at Fort Hood to watch her basset hound while she left for a training mission.
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Other than honorable discharged veteran wins rare VA appeal
Connecticut Veteran Wins Rare VA Appeal
By PEGGY McCARTHY
Connecticut Health I-Team Writer
The Hartford Courant
July 15, 2012
At 55, Stephen Norko says he was at "the lowest point'' of his life. Homeless, unemployed, and feeling sick, the 17-year Navy veteran couldn't get medical care at a VA hospital because he had an "other than honorable'' discharge.
"They wanted nothing to do with me,'' Norko said.
A VA health care worker, who met Norko at a homeless shelter, encouraged him to do what few veterans have done—fight the decision that denied him VA medical care. He became one of a handful of veterans nationwide to appeal a health eligibility decision in the last two years.
This year—with significant legal and political support – he won.
Advocates for veterans say they hope the case will prompt other veterans with "other than honorable" (OTH) discharges to seek VA benefits, which many assume are out-of-reach.
"It's a big myth out there that an OTH is automatically ineligible," said Michael Taub, who works with veterans in the Homeless Advocacy Project in Philadelphia and has been spreading the word that vets with other than dishonorable discharges may often be eligible for VA medical care.
Statistics show that appeals such as Norko's are rare. Official figures from the Veterans Health Administration's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta show only six appeals were filed nationally through the central office in the last two years, including one in New England. Of the six, two were successful, three are still pending, and one was withdrawn by the veteran, according to the Eligibility Center. Norko's appeal, which did not go through the central office, is not included in those numbers.
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By PEGGY McCARTHY
Connecticut Health I-Team Writer
The Hartford Courant
July 15, 2012
At 55, Stephen Norko says he was at "the lowest point'' of his life. Homeless, unemployed, and feeling sick, the 17-year Navy veteran couldn't get medical care at a VA hospital because he had an "other than honorable'' discharge.
"They wanted nothing to do with me,'' Norko said.
A VA health care worker, who met Norko at a homeless shelter, encouraged him to do what few veterans have done—fight the decision that denied him VA medical care. He became one of a handful of veterans nationwide to appeal a health eligibility decision in the last two years.
This year—with significant legal and political support – he won.
Advocates for veterans say they hope the case will prompt other veterans with "other than honorable" (OTH) discharges to seek VA benefits, which many assume are out-of-reach.
"It's a big myth out there that an OTH is automatically ineligible," said Michael Taub, who works with veterans in the Homeless Advocacy Project in Philadelphia and has been spreading the word that vets with other than dishonorable discharges may often be eligible for VA medical care.
Statistics show that appeals such as Norko's are rare. Official figures from the Veterans Health Administration's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta show only six appeals were filed nationally through the central office in the last two years, including one in New England. Of the six, two were successful, three are still pending, and one was withdrawn by the veteran, according to the Eligibility Center. Norko's appeal, which did not go through the central office, is not included in those numbers.
read more here
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