Coffee Bunker "Brothers" Made Sure Veteran Buried With Honor

Coffee Bunker buries veteran with honors who likely died in sleep in parking lot
He was found dead in his SUV at a Tulsa Wal-Mart.
Tulsa World
By COREY JONES World Staff Writer
May 17, 2015

Blackburn said Marcussen was a broadcaster in Los Angeles — “did a couple of commercials and things” — but ended up divorced, falling on hard times and moving far from his home.

For one airman, his military brethren were able to step in and offer a final goodbye when his family couldn’t.

His body was found inside his SUV in April after several weeks parked at a south Tulsa Wal-Mart.

Presumed dead of natural causes, he was a veteran and regular of the Coffee Bunker.

Ronald Ralph Marcussen had fallen on hard times, but life was on the upswing for the 48-year-old before his death. After being homeless, Marcussen had recently found an apartment on the west side of Tulsa.

He held a job as a pizza delivery man on the other side of town, and had just purchased the white Mitsubishi Endeavor where his body would later be discovered on a mattress in the back seat.

Marcussen’s death had a deep impact on Scott Blackburn, who described the Air Force veteran as a pleasant man who had a positive effect on anyone he met.

So as Coffee Bunker’s executive director, Blackburn worked to ensure Marcussen would receive a military funeral and be laid to rest with honors.

That ceremony took place Thursday morning at Fort Gibson National Cemetery.

“I can’t imagine he had an enemy in the world,” Blackburn said.
read more here

Fort Hood Soldier Found Dead Identified

Army ID's Fort Hood soldier found dead 
Army Times
By Kevin Lilley, Staff writer
May 18, 2015

Fort Hood, Texas, officials on Monday released the name of a 29-year-old staff sergeant found dead Thursday in Killeen from an apparent gunshot wound that local police have classified as self-inflicted.

Staff Sgt. Kevin Darnell Lewis, 29, was declared dead at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning, according to a Fort Hood news release. His death remains under investigation, the release states.

A Killeen Police Department spokeswoman would not provide any details on the incident, including where Lewis' body was found, saying such information was not made publicly available in cases of self-inflicted wounds. read more here

Second Marine Died After Nepal Crash

Family mourns 'angel' killed in Marine helicopter crash 
Chicago Tribune
By Linda Girardi
Aurora Beacon-News
May 17, 2015

She was engaged to a fellow Marine from Colorado, and they planned to marry in August, her brother said.

It was Mother's Day when Carlos Medina teased his younger sister, Marine Cpl. Sara A. Medina, about her not being able to join in for a family photo because she was overseas.

The Facebook message to her that day included a picture of their mother, Cecilia Lopez, along with himself and his two young sons.

"I told Sara, 'We miss you' and that 'The only person missing is you,'"Carlos Medina said Sunday. "She told me that she would be with us very soon."

But instead of a reunion, the family is experiencing heartbreak. Sara Medina, 23, of Aurora, was killed in a helicopter crash last week during a relief mission in earthquake-hit Nepal, along with five other Marines and two soldiers from Nepal's army.
read more here

Osprey Hard Landing Leaves Marine Dead and 21 Injured

MV-22 Osprey 'Hard Landing' in Hawaii Kills One Marine, Injures 21 
Associated Press
May 17, 2015

A Marine Corps Osprey aircraft made a hard landing in Hawaii on Sunday, killing one Marine and sending 21 other people to hospitals as dark smoke from the resulting fire billowed into the sky.

The tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter but flies like an airplane, had a "hard-landing mishap" at about 11:40 a.m., the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit said in a statement. Officials didn't provide details about the conditions of the injured.

Twenty-two people were aboard the aircraft, including 21 Marines and one Navy corpsman assigned to the unit, spokesman Capt. Brian Block said in an email.

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is based at Camp Pendleton in California and is in Hawaii for about a week for training.

The Osprey was being used for training at Bellows Air Force Station on Oahu at the time of the hard landing. read more here

Wounded Warrior Program Sports At Eglin Air Force Base

Wounded Warrior competition provides new mission, comradery for severely injured veterans
Associated Press
By MELISSA NELSON-GABRIEL
MAY 18, 2015

"I lost my identity after the military. I felt lost. Being part of the Air Force Wounded Warrior program, it helps you to know that there is more to life than the military. I am proud of my service but I have more to accomplish," the Las Vegas, Nevada, native said.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — As an Air Force crew chief in Afghanistan and Iraq, part of Sgt. Tim McDonough's dangerous mission was recovering the remains of soldiers killed in combat.

An explosion in Afghanistan in 2005 changed his life. He suffered a brain injury and nine surgeries later, McDonough has seizures, limited range of motion and host of other medical problems. Even worse, he lost the camaraderie he had with other airmen.

"You are the cream of the crop, the best of the best. You get injured and put off to the side," said McDonough, 40, of Spokane, Washington.

But he has a new mission that has given him much-needed focus and self-esteem. He will represent the Air Force at the 2015 Department of Defense Wounded Warrior Games in Quantico, Virginia, next month.

His sport? Archery.

McDonough is one of about 200 athletes from the Air Force, Marines, Navy and Army who will compete in eight sports, including basketball, swimming and track and field.
read more here

Religious Freedom Group Doesn't Want Everyone to Use Freedom?

Group wants two-star court-martialed for speech
Air Force Times
By Jeff Schogol, Staff writer
May 15, 2015

An Air Force two-star general is being blasted by a civil liberties group for speaking in uniform about how God has guided his career.

Video posted on YouTube shows Maj. Gen. Craig Olson speaking at a National Day of Prayer Task Force event May 7. In the speech, Olson refers to himself as a "redeemed believer in Christ," who credits God for his accomplishments in the Air Force.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has called for Olson to be "aggressively and very visibly brought to justice for his unforgivable crimes and transgressions" by a court-martial, adding that any other service members who helped him should be investigated and punished "to the full extent of military law."

Olson is program executive officer for C3I and Networks at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.

During his 23-minute address, Olsen spoke of "flying complex aircraft; doing complex nuclear missions — I have no ability to do that. God enabled me to do that."

"He put me in charge of failing programs worth billions of dollars. I have no ability to do that, no training to do that. God did that. He sent me to Iraq to negotiate foreign military sales deals through an Arabic interpreter. I have no ability to do that. I was not trained to do that. God did all of that."

At the end of his speech, Olson asks the audience to pray for Defense Department leaders, who "need to humbly depend on Christ." He also asks them to pray for troops preparing to deploy again so they can "bear through that by depending on Christ."
read more here

I just listened to the speech and very happy to say that this is not a place where free speech is not protected as much as it is practiced. Free, honest speech is a thing of beauty and that is the point that needs to be raised right now.

This was a group of like minded members of faith listening to a speaker talking about his faith. No one was forced to go to the conference or listen to the speeches. There is not a single place in this speech where Olson ever spoke out against the code of the military nor did he condemn anyone.

I come from Massachusetts and went to Hanscom every weekend and maybe since the freedoms we have were worth fighting for by the Patriots, we can acknowledge the right of everyone to seek their own faith or not, to practice their own faith or not as long as they do not try to take that right away from anyone else. There is a lot of that going on in this country and none of us should stand for it.

None of us should stand for a place where they were holding a prayer session silencing someone from participating willingly. None of us should stand for a group of folks claiming to be about religious freedom trying to take away everyone else's right to use that freedom to choose.

There have been times when Military Religious Freedom Foundation were standing up against forcing anyone in the military to participate in a religious service. No one was claiming they were forced to go or to listen to the speech. In this case, they are clearly wrong in my opinion but then again, I am free to still state what I believe because military folks stepped up to make sure that right was protected for me and everyone else!

Published on May 17, 2015
Air Force Major General Craig Olson speaking in uniform at Shirley Dobson's May 7, 2015 National Day of Prayer Task Force event on Capitol Hill, in violation of a slew of military regulations.

Members of the military are strictly prohibited from endorsing any "non-federal entity," religious or non-religious, by doing things like speaking in uniform at their events.

So this isn't just about the obvious issue of Olson violating the regulations regarding participation in religious events and the promotion of his personal religious beliefs; he's blatantly disregarding a whole bunch of regulations.

But the biggest danger of his very public Jesus speech is that it was streamed around the world by GOD TV, handing our enemies like ISIS some great material for recruiting propaganda on a silver platter.

Sequestration Hitting Army Hard

Congress has been whining about "support the troops" but this pretty much proves they don't really practice what they preach. They could have fixed what they caused years ago. They didn't.

With sequestration looming, area’s economic future unclear
Killeen Daily Herald
JC Jones and Jacob Brooks
May 17, 2015

SHRINKING ARMY As the end of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan loomed in 2011 and 2012, military leaders began a plan to shrink the size of the Army from about 570,000 active-duty troops to 490,000 by 2020. However, when sequestration was enacted by Congress, a series of automatic budget cuts began in March 2013, cutting about $1.1 trillion — including more than $450 billion in defense spending — from the federal budget through 2021.

In August 2012, Ashley Kristof and her husband opened a 900-square-foot restaurant on Veterans Memorial Boulevard in Killeen, blocks away from Fort Hood, where droves of hungry soldiers pour out every weekday during their lunch breaks.

Thanks to those hungry soldiers, the gamble of opening a restaurant — an industry where as many as 60 percent of new establishments fail in the first year — was a success.

The Kristofs’ restaurant, The Gyro Nook, now has a staff of eight and expansion plans are underway.

“I kind of need to open a second location,” Kristof said. The second Gyro Nook is set to open next month in Harker Heights, and the owners are contemplating moving the original location to a bigger building to keep up with demand.

“They come in groups of four or five at a time,” Kristof said. Up to 50 soldiers per hour will pass through during the peak lunch time, she added.
read more here

Iraq-Afghanistan Veteran's Service Doge Saved His LIfe

Iraq veteran: “Service dog saved my life.” 
Asbury Park Press
Amanda Oglesby
May 17, 2015

“When you have things that really hurt your soul, that you’ve either done or gone through, and you’ve been to the other end of the spectrum of what I guess is normalcy… you really need that kick to get out of it,” Campbell said. Kenan “is that kick.”

SEASIDE PARK – Nightmares and anxiety attacks have rattled the life of Army Sgt. Adam Campbell in the eight years since he was struck by an improvised explosive device and a rocket-propelled grenade in Samarra, Iraq.

His physical injuries — spinal fractures that left him partially paralyzed for nearly a year, a traumatic brain injury and shrapnel wounds in the back of his legs — were compounded by post-traumatic stress, the 32-year-old Wall resident said.

But one special yellow dog with chocolate brown eyes has made a world of difference for Campbell, a Lakewood native who served in the Army for five years, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, before he was injured.

Kenan is a four-year-old golden retriever with $35,000 worth of specialized training under his service dog jacket.

“He’s the ultimate reminder to calm down and breathe,” Campbell said Sunday outside Chef Mike’s Atlantic Bar and Grill.
read more here

VA Inspector General Reports Include Tampa

VA mismanagement, malpractice detailed in reports 
Military Times
By Patricia Kime, Staff writer
May 17, 2015

More than 120 previously unpublished investigations by the Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general, dating as far back as 2006, reveal problems at VA medical centers nationwide ranging from medical malpractice and patient safety concerns to mismanagement, infighting and corruption.

VA Assistant Inspector General John Daigh posted the reports on the VA inspector general's website in April after receiving criticism that his office failed to disclose results of an investigation into the Tomah Wisconsin VA Medical Center charging that a psychiatrist prescribed dangerous amounts of painkillers and other medications to patients, resulting in at least one death.

Daigh told lawmakers he did not "hide" the results of the Tomah investigation and explained that he routinely closes investigations for a variety of reasons — either the facility under investigation has taken steps to correct the issue, a lawsuit has been filed over an incident, or, in the case of Tomah, allegations were not substantiated.

But lawmakers say procedures that allow VA facilities to fix themselves after being investigated by the department's inspector general make no sense.

Pointing to scandals that have plagued VA in the past year, ranging from off-the-books appointment wait lists to construction overruns totaling more than $1 billion to whistleblower intimidation and more, House and Senate lawmakers continue to question VA's commitment to transparency.

In Tampa, Florida, a physician at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital was counseled for more than two years by supervisors for prescribing controlled substances at rates "significantly higher than his peers."

The inspector general found that efforts to mentor the doctor "did not result in changes to his prescribing practices." But because the hospital was proactive in counseling the physician, the IG recommended only that supervisors also notify the Professional Standards Board and closed the case.

"While there was potential for harm to patients, we didn't find any patients that were harmed," the IG office wrote in the report.

Other reports ranged from poor practices to misrepresentation of credentials to doctor errors.
read more here

Near Fatal Motorcycle Crash Marine Veteran Proves Miracles Still Happen

Fundraiser launched for Boonton 'Miracle Marine' 
Daily Record
Michael Izzo
May 16, 2015

"His first words were 'hi' and 'I love you,'" Bucher said. "And 'orange juice … I'm thirsty.'"

Kyle Chappell in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps 2nd Light Armored Recon Battalion.

(Photo: Photo courtesy of Jennifer Bucher)

MORRISTOWN – A 26-year-old Marine veteran from Boonton has been in intensive care for more than six weeks after a grisly motorcycle accident in Denville left him with life-threatening injuries, including an "internal decapitation."

Kyle Chappell has a long road ahead on his recovery, and his friends and family have started a crowdfunding campaign to help with the cost.

Chappell was driving his motorcycle to work on Diamond Spring Road, four miles from his Boonton home, on the morning of April 2 when he was hit by a car.

Chappell later would find out he suffered an "internal decapitation," meaning his skull separated from his spinal cord, a typically fatal occurrence. There are only about two dozen documented cases of people surviving the injury.

"It's such a miracle. All the credit and gratitude to the first responders for safely moving him," Kyle's mother, Jennifer Bucher, said. "They didn't know about the injury and moving him safely was pivotal to his survival."

Bucher said her son also dissected his aorta artery in two places.

"That aorta was a ticking time bomb. Dissecting it once would typically cause someone to bleed out in 10 minutes," she said. "But somehow it clotted on the way to the hospital."

Chappell's extensive list of injuries also included two collapsed lungs, a lacerated liver, kidney, spleen, a fractured femur, a broken tibia and fibula on his left leg and a broken ankle on his right leg.
read more here

Nepal Army Says Bodies of US Marines Recovered After Huey Crash

All 8 bodies found at crashed US Marine chopper, Nepal army says 
Associated Press
May 16, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal – The bodies of all eight people on board the U.S. Marine helicopter that disappeared this week during a relief mission in earthquake-hit Nepal have been recovered, Nepal's army said Saturday.

The wreckage was found on Friday and the first three bodies retrieved the same day by Nepalese and U.S. military personnel from the crash site in the mountains northeast of capital Kathmandu.

The Nepalese army said in a statement Saturday that the remaining five bodies were also recovered. 

The discovery of the wreckage followed days of intense search involving U.S. and Nepali aircraft and U.S. satellites.

The aircraft, with six Marines and two Nepali soldiers on board, went missing while delivering aid on Tuesday. Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of the Marine-led joint task force, told reporters in Kathmandu on Friday that his team could not immediately identify the cause of the crash of the UH-1 "Huey" or identify the bodies found. read more here

Medal of Honor Recipients Say "Talk About It"

Medal of Honor recipient implores: Let it out on DVIDS by Lance Cpl. Harley Thomas covers the story of Col. Jay R. Vargas (click link for the rest of this report)

"Col. Jay R. Vargas, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, waves at the camera after speaking to service members about the importance of finding help for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder May 12, 2015, at the Chaplain Joseph W. Estabrook Chapel aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Harley Thomas/Released)

The retired colonel, now a mental health advocate, spoke to the Marine Corps Base Hawaii community about the importance of seeking help for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, May 12, 2015, at the Chaplain Joseph W. Estabrook Chapel.

Col. Timothy Winand, the commanding officer for 3rd Marine Regiment, said it was a great privilege to have a Medal of Honor recipient speak to the Marines about such an important topic.

“(It was) a great opportunity in the realm of professional military education,” Winand said. “Col. Vargas has commanded Marines at every level, from platoon to infantry regiment, and his great story is one of courage, dedication, honor, commitment and valor. This is a message we should all listen to and take away from.”

Vargas, a Winslow, Ariz., native, said it took him 37 years to talk about his experiences and once he let it all out, it felt good. He said he held it in because it’s what his brothers did. His brothers, Angelo and Frank, were at the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa during World War II, and his brother Joseph was in the Korean War. Vargas said they never spoke about it.

“The night after I received the medal, the four of us got together at supper and that was the first time I had heard what they did in WWII,” Vargas said. “They held it in, like I did. I had just assumed that once you came home, you didn’t talk about it, like that’s the way it was supposed to be. To those of you who are coming out of a combat zone, don’t hold it in and, if you might have a problem, seek help.”

Vargas said there isn’t a Marine in this world that’s not tough, but there’s ongoing issue in the military called fatigue. He said it causes mental problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder or suicidal thoughts.

“I’ve found this stigma between all of us,” he said. “Nobody wants to admit they have a problem because of the things they’ve seen in combat, but most people don’t understand what effect combat fatigue — that was the term we used in WWII — has on Marines. If you need help, contact your chain of command. PTSD is vicious and some people might not be aware they have it; after coming home, I didn’t.”"

MOH Sammy Davis said the same thing. "Talk about it" but what makes it a more powerful statement is that Sammy was wounded saving lives and then, after getting out of the hospital, he was beaten at the San Francisco Airport.

In this video, Sammy tells the story of what happened when he came home. At the same time, Wimpy, member of Orlando Nam Knights reads the MOH Citation of what Sammy did to save lives. Sammy spent more time talking about how the crew of the plane treated them with kindness and respect than the protestors treated them with hatred.

I asked Sammy and his wife Dixie if they wanted to share a message of hope to the newer generation. They gave the same message of "talk about it" during this video. Truly remarkable is when Dixie is speaking and Sammy is called to the stage.

He is so humble, he didn't want interrupt Dixie as she added a message to families.

Really fabulous couple and have been a pleasure to know.

Indiana Military Family Struggles to Bury Son After Suicide

Family of Tri-State veteran who committed suicide has one final wish 
14 News Indiana
By Jess Raatz, Reporter
Updated: May 14, 2015

The family says the military does not help with funeral costs when someone dies by suicide.

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - The family of an Evansville soldier who spent two years serving in Afghanistan has one final wish as they try to lay him to rest.

23-year-old Robert Moroney was the strong, silent type, with one thing on his mind. “He always said he was going to be a soldier,” said his mother, Gina Hayes.

His pictures now line the dining room table as the family prepares for something they never thought would happen. Robert's family says what he witnessed during combat drastically changed him. "He was walking away, she was crying, and she blew up. She had a bomb strapped to her. Her father put it there."

Robert committed suicide last week, and his family wants other veterans to know they aren't alone. read more here

Body of Fort Knox Lt. Col's Daughter Escorted to Airport After Murder-Suicide

Police escort body of girl killed by father to airport
WLKY News
Mark Vanderhoff
May 15, 2015

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —The body of an 11-year-old girl killed by her father in Vine Grove headed back to Virginia.

Vine Grove police and other law enforcement agencies escorted the body of Tasha Jonas Friday morning from Vine Grove to Louisville International Airport.

Vine Grove Mayor Blake Proffitt said the officer who first responded to the scene was among those escorting the girl's body. Proffitt said Vine Grove police came up with the idea for the procession.

“They said they would like to do this to get her home with respect and get them on to the airport to where they could get her back to family,” Proffitt said.

Proffitt said it was personal for the first officer at the scene, and it was emotional for everyone involved.

Tasha Jonas was shot Monday by her father, 49-year-old John Jonas, before he turned the gun on himself at their Vine Grove home.
read more here

Mother of girl, 11, shot dead by soldier dad in murder-suicide heard daughter’s final words: friend
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY NINA GOLGOWSKI
Friday, May 15, 2015

An 11-year-old girl's last words of "Daddy, daddy, what are you doing?" were heard by her mother on the phone just before the child was shot to death by her own father.

Those crushing details, revealed by a family friend to a Virginia news station, come days after police say Ft. Knox, Ky. soldier John Jonas, 49, fatally shot his little girl and then himself.

"This definitely could have been prevented," that friend, Tanja Manojilovic, told WTKR.

Tasha Jonas, 11, was the victim of an ugly custody battle between her father, who lived with her in Kentucky, and her mother, who lived in Virginia, friends say.

Tasha Jonas, 11, was the victim of an ugly custody battle between her father, who lived with her in Kentucky, and her mother, left, who lived in Virginia, friends say.

Little Tasha Jonas' parents were embroiled in an ugly custody battle when the Monday night shooting occurred outside Jonas' Vine Grove home.
read more here

Professor's Theory is Harmful to Veterans

Professor: Disability checks harmful to veterans
Pensacola News Journal
Marketta Davis
May 15, 2015

Lt. Col. Daniel M. Gade, an active duty Army officer and
Iraq War amputee describes his research and perspectives
on veterans' care to the Tiger Bay Club at New World Landing
Friday afternoon.
(Photo: Tony Giberson)

A West Point professor and Iraq War vet wants the government to limit veteran disability benefits in favor of incentives to work. Lt. Col. Daniel M. Gade, himself an amputee, shared his vision with Pensacola residents during the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club monthly meeting Friday.

"Too many veterans become financially dependent on monthly disability checks, choose not to find jobs, and lose their sense of identity and self-worth that can come from work," Gade said.

At the core of Gade's theory is the belief that disability checks designed to help disabled vets might actually be harmful to them by possibly causing a sense of dependability. Every veteran who leaves the military is required to be exposed to the programs offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, but due to a flawed a system, veterans are over-claiming, he said.

"As our number of veterans in America decline, our number of disabled veterans climb," Gade said. "Due to this idea of mandatory exposure."

According to Gade, the system says that every change in a veteran's health from entry to discharge is considered to be service connected.

This means the multitude of deteriorating physical capacities a veteran experiences from 18 to 38 years old after serving a full 20-year career, is the military's fault, Gade said, and the American government's responsibility.
read more here



Where do I start on this one? 

With the truth that veterans able to work usually make a lot more than the VA compensation checks provide topped off with the simple fact of how long it takes to have a claim approved. Next the other simple fact that almost half of the veterans with PTSD do not file claims at all. Then again when you consider this.

There are 21.8 million veterans of the U.S. armed forces as of 2014, according the Census Bureau, approximately 10 percent of whom are women. To put that in context there are 319.2 million Americans, according to the bureau. Nov 10, 2014

This is from the VA
VA Health Care Utilization by Recent Veterans Findings
Approximately 60 percent (1,126,173) of all separated OEF/OIF/OND Veterans have used VA health care since October 1, 2001.

Between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014, a total of 681,244 of these Veterans accessed VA health care.

The frequency and percent of the three most common diagnoses were: musculoskeletal ailments (687,723 or 61.1 percent); symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions (conditions that do not have an immediately obvious cause or isolated laboratory test abnormalities) (641,973 or 57.0 percent); and mental disorders (640,537 or 56.9 percent). A Veteran can have more than one diagnosis.

In 2013, about 3.5 million of the nation’s 22 million veterans received disability compensation benefits

Using the VA system after service is something this country always did and has nothing to do with compensation.  It used to be a couple of years of free medical care but was extended up to 5 years after service.

As you can see, the numbers show that a small percentage of veterans are in the system but the most shocking thing of all is that we can't even manage to take care of the veterans disabled for serving the country. If the "theory" came close to the truth, then it would have been worth reporting on.