Motorcycle run honors wounded warriors

Motorcycle run honors wounded warriors
By Susan DeMar Lafferty
August 27, 2012

Riders honor veterans during the 4th Annual Wounded Warriors motorcycle run to get underway at Pipefitters Local 597 Training Center in Mokena, IL on Sunday August 25, 2012.
Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media

Sunday’s rain may have dampened the numbers of motorcycle riders but not their enthusiasm as they gathered for the 4th Annual Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run at the Local 597 Pipefitters Training Center on 187th Street in Mokena.

Organizer Mike Cozzi, of the Illinois Veterans Foundation, was hoping for 2,000 riders — to surpass last year’s total of 1,800 — but about 500 registered for the 30-mile run to Wilmington. Many more were expected to join the party at the end of the ride at the Operating Engineers Local 150 union hall.

“This is such a great event. The people here are true patriots. It’s raining, and they’re still here,” Tina Hauptman, of West Chicago, a volunteer with the Illinois Veterans Foundation said. “This is my passion. I volunteer to give back to the Americans who fought so hard for us.”

Before the kickstands went up on the bikes, the IVF honored 11 wounded warriors from Illinois, including Army veteran Brian Wilhelm, of New Lenox, who lost a leg in Iraq, and Sgt. Brian Poplin, of Mokena, represented by his wife because he is still serving with the National Guard, despite an 80 percent disability.

The IVF presented each one with a $1,000 check and has partnered with Home Depot of Chicago Ridge to modify their homes as needed.
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2 US Soldiers Die in Alleged Accidental Shooting

2 US Soldiers Die in Alleged Accidental Shooting
Aug 27, 2012
Associated Press
by Heidi Vogt and Mirwais Khan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Attackers hit international forces, the Afghan army and Afghan civilians in two days of violence that by Monday morning had left 29 people dead -- two of them Americans soldiers killed by an Afghan colleague.

In the deadliest attack, insurgents beheaded 17 Afghan civilian for taking part in a music event in a Taliban-controlled area of southern Afghanistan, officials said. The attack happened Sunday night in Helmand province's Musa Qala district, said provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi. All of the bodies were decapitated but it was not clear if they had been shot first, Ahmadi said.Then on Monday morning, two American soldiers were shot and killed by one of their Afghan colleagues in the east, military officials said, bringing to 12 the number of international troops -- all Americans -- to die at the hands of their local allies this month.

But Afghan officials said Monday's attack in Laghman province was a separate case from the rash of recent insider attacks on international forces, because it appeared to have been an accidental shooting.

When the group of U.S. and Afghan soldiers came under attack, they returned fire and ran to take up fighting positions, said Noman Hatefi, a spokesman for the Afghan army corps in eastern Afghanistan. But an Afghan soldier fell and accidentally discharged his weapon, killing two American soldiers with the errant rounds, he said.
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Penn State riot over Joe Paterno ends dream of joining military

Penn State riot ends dream of joining military
By Michael Rubinkam
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 27, 2012

Stints in jail. Hefty fines and restitution. Clouded futures. The consequences of their bad behavior have been steep for the Penn State students who took to the streets and rioted in the chaotic aftermath of Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno’s firing last November.

Perhaps none has learned a harder lesson than Justin Strine, a young man from central Pennsylvania whose planned career as an Army officer is over before it began — the casualty of his own split-second decision to put his hands on a news van, and a judicial system that considered him as guilty as classmates who did far worse that dark night in State College.

As the fall semester gets underway Monday, Strine has returned to campus, along with 15 other students found to have taken part in a nationally televised riot that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage and embarrassed Penn State.

As he resumes his studies, nothing’s the same for the 21-year-old from Hummelstown. He spent part of his summer in jail. Far worse: He’s been kicked out of ROTC, his dream of carrying on his family’s proud military tradition now out of reach.

“I’m losing everything I worked my entire life for,” Strine said.
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Marine Launches Winery Helping Fellow Veterans

Marine Launches Winery Helping Fellow Veterans
CBS Sacramento
August 26, 2012

LIVERMORE (CBS13) – From fighting for our country to fighting to find work, it’s a battle many veterans face when they return home.

After getting out of the military, several men and woman say it’s hard to find a job, but now a group of veterans have found a way to help other vets, with wine.

Like a lot of veterans, when Josh Laine was discharged from the military, he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

He was dating a girl who worked in the wine industry and thought, ‘hey I can do this.’

The thing is, he didn’t know anything about making wine. So, he turned to the same place you turn to for silly cat videos, YouTube.

“We are known as the YouTube winery, a lot of studying YouTube, studying online, reading books,” said Laine.

He took that knowledge plus $1,500, and he and 10 of his marine buddies created Livermore’s Valor Winery.
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When Marine Sergeant Josh Laine returned from fighting in Iraq to his native Livermore, California, he couldn't find a job anywhere. When a girlfriend got him into wine, he decided to take a crack at winemaking and Lavish Laines Winery was born. The winery has since become a place where any returning veteran can find a job, camaraderie, and a sense of purpose. The film follows Josh and his fellow vets as they try to take the winery from a garage startup to a fully-fledged operation, and in the process explores the challenges vets face in transitioning back to civilian life.

In addition to screening in the Documentary Short Film program, No Wine Left Behind will be featured in a program of films honoring Veterans Day at the Lincoln Theater, Friday Nov 11 at 11am. Winemaking vets from Lavish Laines will be in attendance and offering their wine for tasting! This is part of a FREE program for everyone in the festival community.

Missing Marine Noah Pippin likely died of exposure

Missing Marine likely died of exposure during blizzard in Bob Marshall Wilderness
By EVE BYRON
Independent Record

An investigation of the site where Noah Pippin died, 18 miles from the eastern edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness, makes Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton believe the Iraq war veteran succumbed to exposure.

Dutton said he thinks Pippin, a former Marine described as a large, polite man with a shaved head, was seeking shelter from inclement weather and ducked behind some large boulders in a scree field near the Chinese Wall after being seen near there on Sept. 15, 2010. An icy rainstorm on Sept. 16, 2010, turned into a blizzard during the ensuing days.

“He wasn’t as ill-prepared as we had thought,” Dutton said on Saturday, after using a helicopter to get to the remote site where Pippin died. “We found his sleeping bag, a water jug, his poncho, his hand gun and a small device that plays music (like an iPod). He still had food left, and he did have a map."

“There was no sign of foul play,” Dutton added. “There was an extremely bad storm, and it was readily apparent he had sought shelter under a big rock. He was exposed when animals pulled his remains out from there and scattered them.”

The gun, a 38-caliber revolver, was too rusty for Dutton to determine whether it had been fired. He said it will be sent to the Montana State Crime Laboratory for further investigation.

Pippin, 30, had served three tours of duty in Iraq, and then joined the Los Angeles Police Department. He quit that job, spent a month in Michigan with his family, and then told them he was going back to California to join the National Guard.

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Parents believe remains found in Montana are Noah Pippin

Officials trying to reinstate veterans' counselor

Officials trying to reinstate veterans' counselor
By Randy Billings
Staff Writer
Morning Sentinel


PORTLAND — Officials are ramping up efforts to convince the Maine Veterans Affairs Medical Center to reinstate a full-time counselor position at the city's Oxford Street Shelter.

The full-time VA representative has been credited with connecting homeless veterans with services more quickly and reducing the number of nights they must stay at the shelter. The position, created in 2011, was cut in June.

City officials have been lobbying the VA Maine Healthcare System, and are getting support from the state's two congressional representatives. They argue that not filling the position is contrary to a federal initiative to end homelessness among veterans.

Both Reps. Michael Michaud and Chellie Pingree sent letters to the VA, pointing out that U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki and President Obama have made eliminating homelessness among veterans a top priority.

"Given the large amount of homeless veterans in the Portland area, I request you reconsider (the) VA's decision and employ a full-time service representative at this location immediately," Pingree wrote on Aug. 22. "I believe this type of collaboration among VA and other providers is the best way to achieve Secretary Shinseki's goal of ending homelessness among veterans."
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Small charities begin at home

Small charities begin at home
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
August 27, 2012

On Friday I put out an urgent request for donations because I was notified I am overdrawn at the bank. I couldn't stop crying. It wasn't just the money that has come out of my family's pocket, but because after all this time, I still couldn't even manage to break even. That was all I ever asked for.

While it would be nice to have a paycheck for the 70 hours a week I work, that is not the reason I do this. I am still looking for a part time job to help make ends meet. I just need enough donations to cover the expenses of what I do. That is all I need the money for.

I sent out the request on this blog, 2 Facebook accounts, Linkedin and by email.

I received one donation on Friday right away and another on Saturday. Yesterday I posted this.

Why am I worth less?

Aside from the stress of wondering how to make it the rest of this week until the 1st of the month comes, I really was feeling as if I just didn't matter enough.

This morning I received two gifts beyond words.

Colleen from Fearless Nation PTSD Support donated even though she is broke. She needs donations as much as I do but can't get enough support to keep her going.

Twenty years ago when I started working online there were a lot of groups working on PTSD. We started long before PTSD was in the news and because of Vietnam Veterans. Most of them are gone now. They didn't need a lot of money simply because they were not in this work for the money. This work is heartbreaking on a daily basis but what keeps me going is when a life is saved, a veteran is on his/her way to healing and when a family is no longer blaming themselves. It was the same way for the groups long gone. They didn't spend their time advertising or asking for money. They spent their time caring and helping.

Having to ask for help has taken time out of tracking reports, answering emails and returning phone calls. I should be posting right now on what has happened over the last couple of days.

This work does not cost a lot of money. On average it costs my family between $1,500 and $2,000 a month, depending on how much traveling I have to do and how many events I film. None of the organizations I film have to pay anything and most of the time if it is an event with a price for a meal, I pay that.

I went to college to be able to make better videos. I've been terrified of the student loans coming in and having to pay them when I am taking so much money out of our bank account already. Top that off with my car is getting really old and you know what kind of stress I've had worrying about how to replace it.

So why is it that people stop helping others? No one supports them no matter how much they do, give or how much time they dedicate. There are no Secret Millionaires rushing to our aid, so we end up being forced to stop doing what we do.

There was another donation that came in last night and it was from Spc. Freddy Hook's Mom.

Crying for you. I will be donating 50.00 withing the next few minutes. I will pledge 50.00 a month because I believe that you cover our soldiers and their struggles and deaths with accuracy, depth, concern, and prayer. May God bless you and carry you through these dark days.
In memory of US Army Airborne Medic SPC. Freddy Hook, 1990 - 2010 In the presence of our Lord and Savior...

What we read about everyday with military suicides is heartbreaking but for the families that pain does not end unless they get help to heal as well. There have been many heroes seeing past their own pain because they know there are others out there just like them and they rise up to expose themselves so other people may find some comfort and support.

This is why I do it and this is why people need to step up and help the small charities only seeking enough to get by without having their lights shut off (happened to me two years ago right before Christmas) or turning someone down because they can't afford to get there to help them.

We've all read about the big charities in trouble because they keep most of their money for themselves and their own bank accounts. They were in it for the money. People like me do it out of love. If people like me help you, then think of helping them so they can still be able to help others.

Fort Hood soldier of the month serving 40 years and counting

Soldier Of The Month: One Of The Army's Longest Serving Women
August 24, 2012
By Sophia Stamas

Fort Hood's soldier of the month is changing history, all the while also changing young soldiers' lives.

The 1st Cavalry Division's band director is known to be the Army's longest serving woman on active duty, and her music is making a difference and much more on post.

CW5 Jeanne Pace is in the business of making music and history.

She joined the Army when she was 18-years old, and at the end of August, she'll celebrate 40 years of service, all of them in band.

She said, "I talk to friends all the time and say I don't know how I wound up in this job necessarily, because I really don't like being the center of attention, as an instrumentalist, when I played in the band, I didn't like doing solo work. I just like being part of the group and helping the group along."

As she makes her mark on history, she's also making her mark on young soldiers like SGT Breanna Lemons.
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DAV members want to get word out about local chapter

Proud American veterans: DAV members want to get word out about local chapter
August 26, 2012
By Chris Lavender
Times-News

When Buddy Tate returned to Burlington in 1968 after serving in Vietnam, he found help from the local Disabled American Veterans chapter.

The group, also known as DAV, has 1.2 million members nationwide. The DAV chapter in Burlington serves nearly 500 members. DAV’s local headquarters is at 315 W. Willowbrook Drive.

Tate, 66, said when he first joined DAV in the 1970s, the local chapter consisted mostly of World War II veterans. He was always amazed by their war stories.

“Nothing compares to what some of them went through,” Tate said.

Tate, a Burlington native, was drafted into the U.S. Air Force in 1965 and was later stationed at Bien Hoa, Vietnam, and worked as a sheet metal mechanic.

After his military service, Tate went to work as a dispatcher with the Burlington Police Department. He is now retired. DAV allows Tate to connect with other disabled veterans in the local area.

Tate said when he left the service in 1968 he didn’t know what benefits were available to veterans. He later attended Alamance Community College to receive additional training.

Enrico Mitchell, 56, also is a member of the local DAV chapter. Mitchell, a Wendell native, has served many roles in DAV including former commander.
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Mom in UK helped others but took her own life after her son died

Mother who devoted her life to bereaved service families commits suicide over the death of her own soldier son
By MARK NICOL
25 August 2012

A mother devastated by the loss of her soldier son in Afghanistan committed suicide after her grief became too much to bear.

Gill Atherton, 47, killed herself five years after her son, Guardsman David ‘Jaffa’ Atherton, 25, died in a battle with the Taliban.

She is believed to be the first mother of a UK serviceman killed in recent conflicts to take her own life because she couldn’t live with the loss.

In a tragic irony, after her son’s death Mrs Atherton had devoted her life to helping other bereaved service families, drawing on her personal experiences to provide emotional support and legal advice.

Her daughter Kelly, 27, said: ‘My mother was never the same person after David died.

'She put on a face for us as best she could but she could not mention his name without crying. It was impossible for her to move on.

‘The grief became too much and in the end my mother could not cope with losing David. It is clear to us all that is why she took her life.
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sent from Nadia McCaffrey