Over 1,000 Escort Vietnam Traveling Wall to Wickham Park

Vietnam traveling wall stirs emotions, memories 
FLORIDA TODAY
J.D. Gallop
April 20, 2015

Escorting the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall exhibit. Hundreds of motorcyclists head south on U.S. 1 toward Melbourne's Wickham Park, where the wall be set up until all week for the Vietnam and All Veterans Reunion. (Photo: TIM SHORTT/FLORIDA TODAY)

Derena Lampson knelt on a patch of grass and stared intently at the black aluminum wall etched with the names of thousands of men and women, hoping to find one important connection to her past.

"I'm looking for my great-grandfather. I don't know what he did but he was in Vietnam ... he was there," said the 47-year-old Melbourne resident who brought along her 8-year-old son, Shiloh, and her 16-year-old daughter, Bonnie, for an outing to the park in Melbourne to view the memorial.

"I haven't found him on the wall yet. His name was Ezra Lamspon and my father spoke of him but now he has Alzheimer's, so there's a gaping hole in our family history. This is my first time here and I just wanted my children to know that he died serving his country," said Lampson.

The mother of two was one of several dozen people who turned out as the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall arrived Sunday at Wickham Park under escort from more than 1,000 motorcyclists and volunteers.Derena Lampson knelt on a patch of grass and stared intently at the black aluminum wall etched with the names of thousands of men and women, hoping to find one important connection to her past.

"I'm looking for my great-grandfather. I don't know what he did but he was in Vietnam ... he was there," said the 47-year-old Melbourne resident who brought along her 8-year-old son, Shiloh, and her 16-year-old daughter, Bonnie, for an outing to the park in Melbourne to view the memorial.

"I haven't found him on the wall yet. His name was Ezra Lamspon and my father spoke of him but now he has Alzheimer's, so there's a gaping hole in our family history. This is my first time here and I just wanted my children to know that he died serving his country," said Lampson.

The mother of two was one of several dozen people who turned out as the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall arrived Sunday at Wickham Park under escort from more than 1,000 motorcyclists and volunteers.
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This is where I was yesterday and working on the video now. Check back tomorrow.

WWII Army Air Corps Veteran's Dog Tag Returned Home

WWII airman's lost dog tag finds its way home 
Newburyport News
BY ANGELJEAN CHIARAMIDA STAFF WRITER
April 20, 2015

“I was hoping to find some military relics that might have been in the sand there,” Ladd said yesterday. “Then I found the dog tag.”

WWII airman's lost dog tag finds its way home BRYAN EATON/Staff photoThe dog tag, lower left, of World War II Army Air Corps veteran William C. Benn was found at Salisbury Beach.

SALISBURY BEACH — A military dog tag may seem pretty commonplace, but when it belonged to a highly decorated WWII Army Air Corps veteran, finding one near the old gun batteries at Salisbury Beach makes it pretty special.

Yesterday, the half-disintegrated piece of military memorabilia that once hung around the neck of the late William Charles Benn was returned to his son, William Gordon Benn, thanks to the dedicated work of Purple Hearts Reunited and treasure hunter Bill Ladd. “It’s pretty good work,” Benn said yesterday with a smile, holding the tag after listening to everything done to get it back to those to whom it means the most.

Ladd once read a Daily News story about the remnants of the gun batteries at Salisbury Beach, built to protect the area from German U-boats during World War II.

The story led the Rhode Island resident to travel to Salisbury Beach in mid-March with his new metal detector.
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Amputee Veteran Marine Taking on Everest

Ex-Marine amputee begins 2nd attempt to scale Everest
Associated Press
By Binaj Gurubacharya
April 18, 2015

"My message is anything is possible. It is just not me being an amputee, but anyone sitting on the couch around the world that has problems — you can overcome life, it is just how determined you are. –Linville said in Kathmandu on Friday

In this Thursday, April 16, 2015 photo, former U.S. Marine Charlie Linville holds his prosthesis during an interview with the Associated Press in Kathmandu, Nepal. Former Staff Sgt. Linville, 29, from Boise, Idaho, who lost his right leg and several fingers in an explosion in Afghanistan is making a second attempt to scale Mount Everest to inspire others like him, a year after an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa guides stopped him at the base camp.
(AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) (Niranjan Shrestha, AP)

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A former U.S. Marine who lost his right leg and several fingers in an explosion in Afghanistan is making a second attempt to scale Mount Everest to inspire others like him, a year after an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa guides stopped him at the base camp.

Former Staff Sgt. Charlie Linville, 29, from Boise, Idaho, is using a specially designed metal foot outfitted with a climbing boot and another one with crampons in his quest to conquer the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) summit next month.

"My message is anything is possible. It is just not me being an amputee, but anyone sitting on the couch around the world that has problems — you can overcome life, it is just how determined you are," Linville said in Kathmandu on Friday, on his way to Tibet in neighboring China, from where he will set out on Everest.

He was an explosives expert serving in Afghanistan in 2011, when he went to investigate an explosion that wounded his colleague.

He was hit by another explosive device and seriously wounded, and two years later, had his right leg amputated below the knee.
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Wounded Times Loves Sunny FM Paco Lopez Even More

Wounded Times Loves Paco Lopez and Sunny FM even more now!

Days start rough for me and very early. I'm up about 4:45 am during the week to get some emails read and a few posts up before heading to work.

I'm usually there by 6:30 and I have Rick Stacy along with Grace starting my day off with great music and Ricky Stacy's sense of humor. I laugh so hard listening on my head phones co-workers are listening too.

Then Grace does office party until 10:00, when I am usually doing a chair dance. Right after Grace comes Paco Lopez. He makes me smile every day because he remembers veterans with an on-air shout out for the Orlando VA.

I emailed Paco through Facebook and asked for his story so I could return the favor and give a shout out to him.

Sunny 105.9 Paco Lopez Remembers Veterans Everyday! I listen to Sunny 105.9 FM everyday and one of my favorite things happens during the Paco Lopez show. He plays a song , usually the Eagles Hotel California, and dedicates it to the veterans at the VA everyday. He always makes me smile when he does it because I know how much it means to them to be remembered. It means even more because it comes from one of their own. Paco was a Marine. Or should I say is a Marine? Considering the saying goes, "Once A Marine, Always A Marine."

Well, today, he didn't make me smile. He made me cry. He said he felt humbled to be mentioned by Wounded Times. You can read it here.

Paco Lopez, 105.9 Sunny FM On Air I’m Honored To Be Recognized By “Wounded Times” April 20, 2015 12:52 PM

They were happy tears! Now I adore him even more!

Fort Carson Soldiers Arrested For EBay Sales

Fort Carson soldiers arrested, accused of stealing military equipment to sell on Ebay
The Gazette
By Kassondra Cloos
April 18, 2015

Undercover agents met with Francis and paid $4,300 in cash for a laser range finder in early February, which matched the serial number of one stolen from Fort Carson in late January.

Two Fort Carson soldiers and a third who was discharged last year have been arrested and accused of stealing military equipment that a fourth man, a civilian, allegedly sold on eBay.

A criminal complaint alleging three of the men stole Fort Carson property including two iRobots worth a combined $374,000 and dozens of pieces of body armor and other equipment was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

Staff Sgt. Benjamin Cardwell and Sgt. Johnny Herrera, unit supply specialists, according to the complaint, and former soldier Todd Crow were arrested Wednesday after admitting to conspiring with Daniel Francis, a civilian who allegedly acted as a middleman to sell the stolen military goods, according to the complaint.
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Veteran From Hawaii Shot and Burned in Costa Rica

Former U.S. soldier killed, burned on Costa Rica ranch 
FOX News Latino
Published April 17, 2015

A former U.S. soldier named Robert Lemon was found dead on the private Ojo de Agua Ranch in Puriscal County, San Jose province.

He had been shot several times and half of his body was charred, a police spokesperson told Efe Friday.

The body was found Thursday next to the stables, together with two dead dogs, by a woman who works on the ranch and who suffered a grave emotional crisis, according to the reports available. The two dogs apparently tried to defend their owner and were also shot dead.

Details like the age of the victims, how long he had been in Costa Rice and what was his occupation have not been announced to the public, only that he was a native of Hawaii. read more here

Fort Bragg Soldier Killed in Training Exercise

Fort Bragg soldier killed in training exercise at Louisiana base 
WRAL.com
April 18, 2015

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A 19-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Bragg died Thursday during a training exercise at a base in Louisiana, base officials announced Saturday.

Pv. Joshua D. Phillips, of Las Vegas, was participating in a training at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk when he was killed. 

The death is under investigation, Fort Bragg officials said.

Phillips, who was assigned to Alpha Company, 37th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, joined the Army in August 2014. read more here

Vietnam Veteran Gets To Stay in Nursing Home After All

After dispute with VA, local vet gets to stay in home 
News4Jax
Author: Francesca Amiker, reporter
Published On: Apr 17 2015

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

The owner of the nursing home said that he couldn’t stand to see the vets go and in the last two weeks the home was able to work out a payment schedule with Veteran Affairs.

A local Army veteran, who was almost forced out of the Mandarin nursing home where he lives because of a payment dispute with the Department of Veterans Affairs, still has a home.

Vietnam veteran Duane Wilson, 75, lives at the Terrace of Jacksonville and was told about a month ago that he would have to find somewhere else to live.

Wilson and other veterans were told to get out by Friday because the nursing home was considering ending its contract with the VA because it owed them back pay. But just three days before Wilson and the other veterans at the nursing home were supposed to move out, David Wilson, Duane’s son, received a ray of sunshine. read more here

Almost Half of Warrior Transition Units Closing

Army Shutting Down More Wounded Warrior Transition Care Units
CBS Washington
April 17, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in two years, the U.S. Army is shutting down a number of the specialized medical units that were set up at military bases around the country to help care for severely wounded warriors returning from battle.

As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have begun to wind down, the number of service members with complex physical, mental and emotional wounds and illnesses has dramatically declined, erasing much of the need for the specialized care.

Now, Toner said, commanders are better informed about what soldiers can go to the long-term care units. But the Army is also looking at refining its criteria for getting into the units, so that active duty and reserve troops would have the same requirements.

Currently, to be accepted into a unit, an active duty soldier must require more than 6 months of care for injuries, illness or other psychological conditions that require complex management and limit the troop’s ability to be on duty. National Guard and Reserve troops serving on active duty must require more than 30 days of care.

Toner said 48 percent of the soldiers in the units now are active duty troops and the rest are reserves. And, more than 1,700 of the approximately 3,650 soldiers are being treated for some type of post-traumatic stress or behavioral diagnosis. About 85 percent of those with stress or behavioral problems have deployed to the warzone at least once.
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"Behavioral problems" seriously? That has been the way the results of improperly treated or ignored PTSD have been regarded. After all, on one side the Army says they understand PTSD and they are doing all they can to help soldier heal at the same time reality is a different story. We've seen the results of that as more and more OEF and OIF veterans commit suicide. We've seen the results over and over again as Generals slam them as being mentally weak at the same time other generals have the "intestinal fortitude" to admit their own struggles with PTSD.

Army cutting 10 wounded warrior units but keeping complex at JBLM
The News Tribune
BY ADAM ASHTON
April 18, 2015

The roughly 800 soldiers assigned to warrior transition battalions that are closing likely have enough time to return to normal duty or separate from the Army, Toner said. Some could be sent to different Army posts.

The Army plans to shut down nearly half of the special medical units it built during the Iraq War because the slowing pace of combat deployments and shrinking size of the infantry have been emptying these units of patients.

Ten of the Army’s remaining 25 Warrior Transition Units are scheduled to close by August 2016, Warrior Transition Command senior officer Col. Chris Toner told reporters on Friday.

The one at Joint Base Lewis-McChord will remain open and could grow because the Army is shutting three other West Coast sites in Alaska and California, a Madigan Army Medical Center spokesman said.

Closing the 10 sites likely will save the Army about $350 million a year, Toner said. Today, about 3,600 soldiers are assigned to the medical units, down from a peak of more than 12,500 during the Iraq War.

“We’ve seen a steady decline of our population over time. Thank God we do not have combat-generating casualties,” Toner said.

The roughly 800 soldiers assigned to warrior transition battalions that are closing likely have enough time to return to normal duty or separate from the Army, Toner said. Some could be sent to different Army posts.

Soldiers are assigned to the units if they need long-term medical care for wounds, injuries or illnesses. About 44 percent of the 66,000 soldiers who’ve been assigned to the units since 2008 have returned to military duty; the rest separated from the Armed Forces.
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The Augusta Chronicle story on Fort Gordon closing their Warrior Transition Unit adds what most of us have been talking about because of the reporting done by The Dallas Morning News and NBC INJURED HEROES, BROKEN PROMISES.

Fort Gordon Warrior Transition Battalion closing
The Augusta Chronicle
By Wesley Brown
Staff Writer
April 17, 2015

Not all have left satisfied.
In the past five years, soldiers have filed 76 complaints against Fort Gordon’s Warrior Transition Battalion through its ombudsmen program – a total that ranks fifth-most among the 33 units in the Army that received at least one complaint.

The posts ahead of Gordon included Bragg (North Carolina), Hood (Texas), Riley (Kansas) and Lewis (Wash­ington state), according to a 389-page report obtained by The Augusta Chronicle from the Army Medical Command under the Freedom of Infor­mation Act.

About half of Fort Gor­don’s dealt with leadership harassing, belittling, intimidating or threatening soldiers, according to the report.

The remainder concerned the unit denying or being insensitive to soldiers’ medical needs, restricting family visits or not signing or extending passes, providing substandard housing or not granting lodging requests, and issuing unnecessary discipline or unsupported allegations of alcohol and drug use.
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They are more than just numbers and the numbers you see are only part of the story. The rest of the story is what families go through trying to get them the help they need.

Fort Sill CSM Found Guilty of Stolen Valor

Fort Sill Command Sergeant Major Convicted of 'Stolen Valor' 
Military.com
April 13, 2015

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Perry McNeill salutes alongside U.S. Airmen and coalition forces during a Dutch army change of command ceremony on Sept. 27, 2013, at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Chase Hedrick/Air Force

Associated Press | Apr 13, 2015

LAWTON, Okla. -- A command sergeant major at Fort Sill has been convicted of wearing unauthorized military insignia, including a Ranger Tab and the Pathfinder Badge.

Command Sgt. Maj. Perry McNeill was convicted last week by a military judge who sentenced McNeill to a demotion to sergeant first class, a letter of reprimand and to forfeit $500 in pay per month for 10 months. read more here

Plagiarists Beware

Everything on Wounded Times is from news reports, government publications and other historical records along with articles I've written based on over 30 years of research.

There are over 24,000 articles on Wounded Times. All of them are linked to the source.

If you are among the plagiarists out there using what you find here, you better go back to whatever you simply copied and link to where you got it from!

Define Plagiarist at Dictionary.com
plagiarism definition. Literary theft. Act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author:

I am tired of hearing from readers something I wrote has been copied on another site hours, days, weeks and in a lot cases, years after I wrote it.

They are looking for you now. Whenever we find offenders, it will be publicized especially if it is found on a news site.

In case you doubt this, consider what happened last week when the Rachel Maddow Show decided that privatizing the VA was a great thing to report on and most of the information was what had been posted here days before including the graphic from the history of the VA cover. Could it be a coincidence? Sure that is possible but it is more likely one of her staffers got really lazy.

Wounded Times has been covering the issue of privatizing the VA for years!

If you want to cover veterans issues, do the research all by yourself.

Get an idea and the find the information all on your own the way I invest hours of my own time. I may make it look easy but it is far from it!

If you want to make your life easier, then you can use what I have when you link to it, otherwise folks will know exactly why they should trust anything else you do.

The date and timestamp are on every post on this site and that, you cannot erase that as much as you seem to want to erase my work.

Orlando Veteran Life On Hold For VA

Vet says VA lost his files, not helping him get benefits 
WFTV News
April 17, 2015

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A central Florida veteran who served two tours in Iraq and says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, told Channel 9 that he is stuck waiting for help from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He is one of about 500,000 veterans caught up in a backlog of those waiting for decisions to be made about their benefits.

Sgt. James Northcote received a letter from the VA telling him the paperwork he submitted in January 2013 as part of a claim had been lost by October of that year.

Northcote served 13 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and did tours of duty in Iraq in 2003 and 2006. read more here

Georgia Veterans' Cemetery Turned Into Movie Set?

Families outraged after veteran cemetery turns into movie set 
WSB News
April 17, 2015

The widow of a Korean War veteran said to see the cemetery turned into a movie set was heartbreaking. “This isn't Las Vegas, or California. This is a veterans’ cemetery. It's sacred to us,” Shirley Bryan said.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Families outraged after veteran cemetery turns into movie set. A group of veterans and their families contacted Channel 2 Action News to express their disapproval of a decision to allow a production company to shoot a movie scene at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton. read more here

Vietnam Veterans Still Live Battles To Fight

While most reporters seem to overlook pre-9-11 veterans, this is a good article about Vietnam veterans and the battles they still have to fight.

There are no new wounds separating generations no matter how much easier it is for Congress to pretend it is all new to them.

Had it not been for Vietnam veterans fighting for all generations when they came home, there would have been nothing available for PTSD help among servicemembers, veterans and yes, the civilian population. As imperfect as things are today, it would have all been worse had it not been for them.

50 years later, Vietnam veterans still live with the war 
Post Bulletin
Matthew Stolle
April 18, 2015

The Vietnam War may have slipped into the annals of history, but for those who served, it never completely ended.

As a special forces commander during the Vietnam war, Bill Fritts of Byron ran recon and civil affairs missions in and around South Vietnam for 32 months. But it wasn't until two decades later, when the war had long been over, that Fritts realized it wasn't over for him.

He began having horrible dreams.

He would awaken at night drenched in sweat. Fritts had a recurring dream in which his men were "running operations" in some jungle-laden locale. It would dawn on Fritts, as the dreams continued, that the men in them were dead now. "I'm the only guy still alive."

Then one night Fritts woke up in his Byron home, and there, sitting at the end of his bed, was a North Vietnamese Army lieutenant, smoking a cigarette and smiling. As soon as Fritts would sit up, the Vietnamese man vanished.

A doctor later diagnosed Fritts' case as the worst Vietnam-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he had ever seen.

It's been five decades since Fritts, now 79, served in the Vietnam War as a Green Beret special forces commander, running small-group missions, moving stealthily through the jungle, wearing the black pajamas that allowed him to blend into his surroundings.
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Veteran to Homeless to Blindness to Powerlifter

Blind veteran power lifts to world games
Courier-Post
Carly Q. Romalino
April 16, 2015

"I've been blind for 25 years. Just in the last 12 years or so I've come to understand what blindness is as far as being able to navigate and accept it," said King, a post-Vietnam war veteran honorably discharged from the Army for health reasons.

Powerlifter Charles King, a blind and formerly homeless veteran, works out at the Carousel House in Philadelphia as GW Stilwell, a Logan Township man and VA Hospital employee who helped King get back on his feet, looks on. King is trying to fundraise his way to the International Blind Sports Association's World Games in South Korea in May. (Photo: JOHN ZIOMEK/COURIER-POST)

PHILADELPHIA – As Charles King adds weight to the bench press bar, it's easy to forget the Philadelphia man is blind. He lifts the 250-pound bar over his head, then holds a perfect squat position.

He moves through the Fairmount Park Carriage House's gym, avoiding collisions with machines, chairs and stacks of weights. At 5-foot-9 and 208 pounds, King seems invincible.

After everything the formerly homeless veteran has endured in 20 years, he just might be. He may be on track to compete in the International Blind Sports Association's World Games in South Korea next month, but he'll still tell you he's a "dead man."

He lived on the streets, lost his daughter in 2000 and battles addiction, prostate cancer, arthritis and diabetes. "Everybody has to be passionate about something in life to keep them going," said Logan Township resident GW Stilwell, coordinator of the blind rehabilitation staff at Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

It took 64 years and lots of support from Stilwell and the VA, but King finally found his passion — power lifting.
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