Patriot Guard Riders deliver flag from funeral in California to family in Florida

All I can say is that these people are amazing!!!

American Flag Carried Across the Country to Marine's Daughter
Posted By: Jennifer Lindgren

PALM COAST, FL -- The daughter of a Marine who served in the Vietnam war received a surprise honor Sunday afternoon: her father's burial flag, hand delivered from California by the Patriot Guard Riders.

Sgt. Michael Gares died last week in Riverside, California of natural causes.

His daughter, 18-year-old Jennifer Gares, and her brother, Andrew, live in Flagler County and could not afford a plane ticket to fly out to his funeral.

During the funeral, which took place at Riverside National Cemetery, the Patriot Guard Riders stood in the family's place.

As a tradition, the serviceman's burial flag is handed down to a widowed spouse, a parent, or the oldest child in the family.

When the riders learned Sgt. Gares' family was in Florida and his burial flag was to be mailed back home, they stepped in, and organized a hand delivery.

"The way the vets feel, this is a flag of honor. It is treated with respect and a whole bunch of love from the combat brotherhood," said Ernest Tucker, a Vietnam Veteran.
read more here
American Flag Carried Across the Country to Marines Daughter

Hood soldier charged with murder after shooting

Hood soldier charged with murder after shooting

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Aug 10, 2009 16:48:05 EDT

KILLEEN, Texas — A Fort Hood soldier has been charged with murder after a shooting at a party near the Central Texas Army post.

Spc. Jared Lee Bottorff was jailed on $1 million bond Monday. Another soldier, Spc. Philip James Thomas, was jailed on $500,000 bond on an evidence tampering charge.
read more here
Hood soldier charged with murder after shooting

Fort Hood gunshot death ruled suicide

Hood gunshot death ruled suicide

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 10, 2009 17:29:09 EDT

A soldier from Fort Hood, Texas, died Aug. 4 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said Aug. 10.

Spc. Jimmy Lee Foxworth, 23, of Phoenix, Ariz., was pronounced dead in his off-post apartment in Killeen.

read more here

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/08/army_suicide_081009w/

Snake bites 87-year-old, who kills it with her cane

Snake bites 87-year-old, who kills it with her cane
By Kim Wilmath, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Aug 10, 2009 01:54 PM


NEW TAMPA — An 87-year-old woman was hospitalized Monday after she was bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake and beat it to death with a cane.

The unidentified woman noticed what she thought was a stick just outside her Hunter's Green home and picked it up to move it, authorities said. The "stick" was a rattlesnake that bit her right hand. She used the cane in her other hand to beat it to death.
read more here
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1026318.ece

Impact of VCS-VUFT Lawsuit against the VA

This was part of the reason I resigned from the NAMI Veterans Council. They gave Dr. Katz an award for what he was forced to do when it came to the suicides of our veterans.

This is from an online report about the NAMI Convention

Veterans Affairs Mental Health Program

by
Cole Buxbaum
There has been an increase in homelessness, criminalization, and suicide among veterans. 14% of service members are now suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) During the last few years 1.6 million veterans have had a psychiatric diagnosis. The Veterans Affairs Department has called for post-deployment periodic evaluations for all combat veterans.

Since 2006 the VA has hired over 4,000 new mental health practitioners to deal with the growing demands, and more new hires are planned. In late 2008, the VA issued a directive to all VA health care facilities to significantly restructure their mental health programs, establishing scores of new approaches to help veterans transition, reintegrate and recover.

The key speaker at this workshop was Ira Katz, M.D., director, Office of VA Mental Health, Washington, D. C.

This is from the convention

NAMI VETERANS COUNCIL DEDICATION TO VETERANS MENATL HEALTH CARE AWARD

Ira Katz, MD

Dr, Ira Katz left a comfortable position at the University of Pennsylvania and the VA Medical Center to join the Department of Veterans Affairs. Within two years of his arrival, members of Congress and the press were calling for his resignation or termination over the issues of rising suicides among veterans-especially veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In spite of blistering criticism, Dr. Katz worked tirelessly behind the scenes to launch the VA's first ever suicide prevention initiative, including a nationwide crisis call line in conjunction with SAMHSA that has intervened in thousands of potential suicides by veterans. While managing this delicate task and fending off critics, Dr. Katz spearheaded VA-wide approval of a dramatic reform of its mental health programs to embrace recovery principles. All veterans receiving mental health care in the VA are better served today because of the work of Dr. Ira Katz. We are proud to honor him for his dedication to improving the mental health and the mental health care of veterans.

"Proud" is what they were but the fact is, none of what happened with the VA and steps taking would have happened without these law suits and Congress getting invovled. If the NAMI Veteran's Council is so uninformed on what the facts were behind all of this they awarded one of the people responsible for the harm done, then we have to ask what else they have gotten wrong. What excuse can they have for not knowing? What can they say to the families of our veterans when they were so hopeless they committed suicide at the same time Katz was denying it was happening on national TV? These are not average citizens unable to know what's going on. They are supposed to be experts on what they are talking about. So how is it they didn't know what was behind all of this? How is it that they gave an award to Katz after all of this?

I cannot tell you how truly disgusted I am with this. I had such high hopes for the Veterans Council believing they were putting veterans first and knew as much about what was going on as I did. After all, they are the "experts" and were supposed to know. Yet given the fact I would receive emails with links to reports days after I had read them and posted them, as if it was big news and they never seemed to manage to send out links to the really big stories, that should have given me a clue they didn't really know much of what they should have know and been informing others on.

Again, I still believe in NAMI but after this award to Katz, I don't believe the Veteran's Council is about doing what is best for the veterans. If they were really interested in the truth then they would have given an award to Veterans for Common Sense or Veterans United for truth instead because their efforts were behind all of it.

Impact of VCS-VUFT Lawsuit
Two years ago Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth made history with our lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs.
We are tired of the endless delays caused by VA, including the fact that VA medical centers turned away suicidal veterans seeking mental healthcare - a dire moral outrage during a time our Nation fights two wars.While some at VA called our suit a nuisance, and VA tried in vain to have the suit dismissed, our lawsuit provided several victories for veterans.
The court ruled VA was harming our veterans with unreasonable delays in healthcare and benefits.

The court forced VA to release internal documents showing VA concealed a terrible and tragic suicide epidemic and even sought to block access to healthcare and disability benefits for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.Your contributions makes a difference!

Please set up a monthly gift to VCS today so we can keep the heat on VA to improve access to timely services for our veterans.

Be a Part of History - Watch Hearing and Support VCS
This Wednesday at 9:30 AM, our attorneys in our case, Gordon Erspamer and Morrison & Foerster and Sid Wolinsky at Disability Rights Advocates, appear before the Ninth District Court of Appeals in San Francisco. C-SPAN will carry the case live.

Read our appeal brief here. How important is this lawsuit? Two widely respected veterans organizations, the Vietnam Veterans of America and Swords to Plowshares, wrote the Appeals Court and agreed that VCS and VUFT were right and that the current crisis demands court intervention to overhaul and reform VA.

How historic is this case?

Last week, Gordon Erspamer was presented with the prestigious pro bono attorney of the year award by the American Bar Association.

You can view a video about Gordon here.

After VCS and VUFT filed our lawsuit, VA set up a toll-free suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-TALK. So far, 150,000 distraught veterans have called, and VA performed more than 3,200 rescues, including a soldier on active duty in Iraq.

Your support keeps the needs of veterans front and center in the news.

Please donate to VCS today so we can improve how VA takes care of our veterans. Sincerely,

Paul Sullivan

Executive Director

Veterans for Common Sense

Should the VA Compensate over quality of life? Yes!

VA not ready to back disabled pay
Tuesday, Aug 4 2009, 6:23 pm
By Tom Philpott: Military update
Monthly compensation the Department of Veterans Affairs pays to veterans with service-connected disabilities is intended to replace average earnings loss due to injuries or ailments.

But should VA also pay disabled veterans something extra for diminished quality of life?

Two prominent commissions in 2007 said it should. Last week, however, a senior VA official told senators the department isn’t prepared yet to endorse a qualify-of-life payment, or to make any other significant change to disability compensation.

“There’s more information that’s needed, and … more discussion that needs to take place with many experts, before we are prepared to say yes or no on any of those recommendations,” said Patrick W. Dunne, under secretary for benefits in VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration.

North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, ranking Republican on the veterans’ affairs committee, raised the issue in a hearing on a different topic: What VA is doing to speed the processing of a rising number of disability claims.

Burr noted that VA just last year commissioned a study, by Economic Systems Inc., of Falls Church, Va., on appropriate levels of disability pay to compensate for loss of earning capacity and quality of life as a result of service-related disabilities.
read more here
VA not ready to back disabled pay

Should the VA Compensate over quality of life? Yes! Aside from lost income, there is much that is not talked about at all. When it's PTSD, every part of life changes.

I do what I do because I live with this everyday. I do this because I know as hard as it has been for my husband and my family, it's harder for others because they do not understand what they need to know. The "quality" of our lives ended a long time ago when everything we expect out of being married ended according to what the rest of society views as a "successful marriage."

Next month were celebrating our 25th anniversary. PTSD changed what I thought our lives would be but it didn't destroy us. We found what worked for us but what works does not replace what was lost.

We lost a lot of income when my husband could no longer work. We lost friends when the couldn't understand what he was going through. We lost a lot of good years. What we lost as a family cannot be replaced because we lost parts of my husband.

PTSD causes short term memory loss, so the spouse has to make sure they remember things for the both of them. From bills to pay to medication to take, appointments to keep and the frustration of having to repeat things over and over and over again because they cannot remember or remember they just said the same thing ten minutes before.

PTSD causes mood swings and angry outbursts the spouse has to keep controlled 24/7.

PTSD causes paranoia and overblown reactions that drive family members into their own mental health issues. Children often pay the price when they grow up with this in the home even when they do understand what it is. Turmoil is a constant condition. Bad days, especially around an anniversary date connected to combat leaves the veteran in a deeper state of depression and anger. Like Dr. Jeckle Mr Hyde they transform from being within their character into a stranger.

The list of what they go through with nightmares draining them, flashbacks taking them away, medications with side affects and quality of life with everything else involving their whole family is a price paid that does not end. It's not impossible to live with it, adapt to it so we can cope, but the emotional toll is hard.

I've walked away from conversations when others complain about simple problems in their own lives because I know they could not understand mine. I've spent years trying to calm things down while my husband was bouncing off the walls out of control and most of the time, I had to do this while I was at work torn between my family needing me and my job. So many days of being totally upset about what was going on at home while trying to focus on work left me driving home at the end of the day dreading it.

Yes, I worked in the "normal world" for a paycheck while I was volunteering helping veterans and their families going through the same things we were. I had bills to pay just like everyone else and still do. The stress of working full time, plus PTSD at home, did so much damage to me physically that my hair was falling out, I was losing too much weight too fast and I lost too much sleep. Granted some of the stress I had was part of helping other families and veterans but that part of my life was also healing to me. I knew something had to change.

We moved from Massachusetts to Florida where I thought I could work part-time and do this full time, plus be home for my husband and daughter. This helped to calm him down and lessen his stress, plus mine. I had a great part time job working for a church as Administrator of Christian Education, which was a wonderful job, ten minutes away from our house in case of emergencies at home, which happened often. I lost my job because the economy cut out the job. Yes, more stress but PTSD got so bad all over the country, I do this 70 hours a week leaving very little time to work for a paycheck again.

When I have to travel, my cell phone is a lifeline to my husband. The added stress on him has me limiting how much travel I do and how long I'm gone. If I'm gone more than a couple of days, he is in a constant state of worry and increase in his stress level.

There is so much that comes with PTSD that hits every part of the veteran's life. Emotional disconnect, intimacy, regret, bad memories of times when PTSD was out of control, so many things to deal with, live with and try to overcome, that no one seems to come close to understanding unless they are living with it too. When it's PTSD, the whole family pays for it.

When non-service connected is connected in reality, veterans suffer

For years people have doubted what I've been saying about non-service connected veterans paying out of pocket for their treatment at the VA even though they could have been told by a VA doctor, it was caused by service to this nation. Now maybe, just maybe you'll believe me.


When non-service connected is connected in reality, veterans suffer because they know their medical need has been caused by service to this country but they have to pay for it. A claim is considered "non-service connected" until the VA approves the claim. It's as simple as that. What congress did with this ruling to allow the VA to collect funds for "non-service connected" treatment, was to make veterans suffer while their claims are moving through the backlog.

It happened to us.

For six years we fought the VA to have my husband's PTSD treated at the VA. We had private health insurance we thought would cover his treatment until his claim was approved once we were told we'd have to pay. The insurance company said they didn't have to cover the treatment because the VA doctor diagnosed it connected to Vietnam. In other words, it was the government's responsibility to pay for it, not their's. The VA said his claim was not approved so in their eyes, it was not service connected and he'd have to pay them for treating him. His claim was finally approved but we went through hell to get to that point.

Whenever I talk about this and how it's harming veterans making them pay for care until their claim finally gets approved, no one seems to understand exactly how wrong this is and they doubt I'm telling the truth because they never hear this discussed anywhere else. Now maybe they'll believe me with this.

Congressman Filner Bill Allows Elderly Veterans to Use Earned Medicare for VA Health Care
Written by Imperial Valley News
Wednesday, 05 August 2009
Washington, DC - Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Bob Filner introduced H.R. 3365 to allow veterans to use their earned Medicare benefits to receive health care and services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Under current law, VA has the authority to bill enrolled veterans and their private health care insurers for the treatment of veterans’ non-service-connected conditions.
Current law, however, prohibits the billing of Medicare, barring elderly veterans from using their earned Medicare benefits at VA health care facilities. H.R. 3365, the Medicare Reimbursement Act of 2009, would require VA to develop a program that would allow VA to bill Medicare for services rendered to veterans enrolled in Medicare Part A or B.
read more here
Elderly Veterans to Use Earned Medicare for VA Health Care

Again, "non-service connected" only means they have an approved claim and not that whatever they need care for was not connected to their service. This is wrong and this needs to be changed.

Under this rule, the VA billed my husband for serving and ending up with PTSD because his claim was not approved. Once it finally was, they cannot do enough for him and treat him with great care but how many others have to go through the same hell we did? How many others end up feeling forced out of care because they cannot afford to pay for it? We couldn't afford it. We were paying for private health insurance every month but they wouldn't cover anything dealing with mental health after the VA diagnosis. The VA attached our tax refund to pay for his care! We got most of the money back but this was after years of having to borrow money to pay the bills and the mortgage and then more hell trying to make sure my husband didn't give up. Which he did and he dropped out of treatment. I kept fighting because I had the ear of his doctors and a great relationship with his DAV Service Officer. If it had gone on much longer, I doubt he'd still be alive today.

We know the claims waiting to be approved are approaching a million but we don't talk about the lives involved or what is happening to them while they are waiting. Even more appalling is that no one is talking about the fact they have to pay for their care until they get to that point. This is an outrage!

Lesser-Known Therapy Helping Locals Suffering from PTSD

Lesser-Known Therapy Helping Locals Suffering from PTSD

Posted: Aug 9, 2009 11:54 PM EDT

Updated: Aug 10, 2009 12:38 AM EDT


By Aman Chabra, Local News 8 Reporter

IDAHO FALLS - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a thing of the past for a select group of people in Idaho Falls.

Their success in overcoming trauma comes thanks to a counseling technique called Imagery Rescripting and Reprocessing Therapist (IRRT).

Bob Stahn of Well Spring Counseling says the therapy has cured ALL of the approximately 50 patients he has treated for PTSD in the past two years. He says the perfect success rate surprises him

"Generally, there's not a technique that seems to work one hundred percent, not that high," said Stahn.

Stahn first learned about the therapy in 2007 from Dr. Mervin Smucker, who originally developed the technique while working for the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The therapy involves the patient re-imagining the traumatic experience step by step under the supervision of the mental health counselor. However, upon arriving at the climax of the traumatic experience, the patient then changes the outcome in their mind.

"It disconnects the trauma emotions from the details of the event," said Stahn.
read more here
Lesser-Known Therapy Helping Locals Suffering from PTSD

Not sure about this at all. There are some programs that have been found to work on a temporary basis leaving the person to believe they are "cured" only to find they have not been "cured" when something else happens in their life bringing it all back.

Take a combat veteran with PTSD after he watched friends die. Changing the outcome in their mind would do what? Exactly what happens later on when they come face to face with the grave? What happens when they see a memorial with the names of their friends on it? What happens when they are walking down the street and bump into a family member or another veteran? Would it be a shock to find out they had themselves deluded in thinking it ended differently than it really did? Or would they be able to cope with it and still feel they have been healed?

There have been studies where a veteran can change the outcome of a nightmare providing some relief much like a child is told when monsters come in their dreams, they make the nightmares go away if they kill the monster in their dreams, but dreams and reality are two different things.

G.I. Joe & Lillie The Oak Ridge Boys and PTSD

This song is about standing by a combat veteran haunted by combat.

Wives ask me all the time about standing by their side when they have PTSD, even though now there is a wealth of information available to help them cope with the changes in the husband brought on by combat. I tell them that it depends on how much they love them and what they are capable of. Some are just not able to stay because they have to be able to cope with the long list of changes, from nightmares to flashbacks, from angry outbursts followed by tears. If we look at the older wives that did it without any information at all, no support set up for them, nothing but love to hang onto, we understand that it can be done if love is really there.

The body of a Fort Hood soldier has been found

Fort Hood soldier's body found
© 2009 The Associated Press
Aug. 9, 2009, 6:33PM

BELTON, Texas — The body of a Fort Hood soldier has been found in Lake Belton after he went missing during an outing with family and friends.

Waco television station KWTX reported 35-year-old Sgt. Vevesi Semu, Jr. went missing Saturday evening.
read more here
Fort Hood soldiers body found

Where has compassion gone in this country?

Matthew 25

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?

38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?

39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,

43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:31-46

I have this on the sidebar of this blog toward the bottom with a picture of Christ. It is there because this is there to remind a friend that he is never far from my thoughts and my prayers. It is also there because not following how Christ said we should treat people, is one of the biggest sins of all. Not only does it go against the Ten Commandments on how we are supposed to treat others, it goes against Christ Himself.

How is it that this country, so filled with churches and people screaming "this is a Christian Nation" when it suits them also allow so much suffering, heartless blindness and contempt for the least among us? Does any of what goes on really fit with what Christ taught? Hardly.

Consider the debate and the outrage caused by some zealots showing up screaming at Town Hall meetings over healthcare. Christ sent His Disciples out to heal the sick but some right here scream about not taking care of someone else needing care to stay alive. These same people are the same folks screaming about being pro-life, but I guess that only means when they can afford to go to a doctor when they're sick. Some people scream that they don't want the government messing around with their healthcare but when asked they say they get their care from Medicare or Medicaid. Some veteran scream along the same lines but they go to the VA for their care. These are government programs! Does this fit with being Christian?

Would they rather have some kind of system that is fair to all or see people die because they cannot afford to stay alive? Would they rather others lose their homes over healthcare bills they cannot pay because of a catastrophic illness and end up homeless? It happens all over the country when people just don't have enough coverage to meet the charges when they become ill. They lose their jobs and healthcare ends. Cobra costs so much money, people cannot afford it without a job to pay for it.

People all over the country also complain about the homeless and how they don't want them in their neighborhoods. They never stop to think the homeless used to be someone else's neighbor. They also don't stop to think that Christ commanded us to take care of them as our neighbor.

How can they go against what they are supposed to stand for as Christians? This is one of the many things I will never be able to understand. Is it because some of them believe that they were blessed by God and they don't need to take care of others? They have that entirely wrong and I doubt very much that Calvin ever once attempted to explain how Christ came into this earth to live as a poor man's son, grew up to be homeless and dependant upon the kindness of strangers to feed Him as He traveled this earth to teach us what God really expected out of His children. Do they think of this?

Where has compassion gone in this country? How can people claim they carry on the Heart of Christ within them and then do things totally against Him?

If they ever stop to read the Bible they may find themselves not so tempted to wave it in the face of someone else they want to teach a lesson to, I doubt they'd be filled with so much anger, hate, resentment and contempt they would ever speak out against those Christ clearly loved above the rich and the privileged. Yes, that's in the Bible too. These people may claim to be Christian but they are so far from what they are supposed to be, they no longer recognize who Christ was or what He taught.

Say any of this to them and they are only able to repeat what they read by others in the Bible. The problem with this is that if it does not agree with the Ten Commandments or the Red Letters of the Bible, then they are following the teachings of people just as imperfect as they are. All capable of misunderstanding and getting it wrong as they did. Abraham got it wrong after he decided to not wait for God to give him a son and he took his wife's servant. Moses got it wrong when he was put in the perfect place to free the Hebrews, but had to do it his way, more than once. David got it wrong many times and so did all the others in the pages of the Bible. Remind them of this when they quote you what people claim is the word of God because if it does not agree with the Ten Commandments of what Christ said, then it came from their own heads.

God did not dictate the Bible but He did inspire it, yet they cannot answer how so many other books were written by others not included in what we read. Maybe if they stopped talking so much and started to do more of what Christ actually did talk about, this country would be so much better and their hearts would be a lot more humble. Maybe crimes against the homeless would never happen because people would be taking care of them instead of avoiding them.

Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws

By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: August 7, 2009
WASHINGTON — With economic troubles pushing more people onto the streets in the last few years, law enforcement officials and researchers are seeing a surge in unprovoked attacks against the homeless, and a number of states are considering legislation to treat such assaults as hate crimes.


This October, Maryland will become the first state to expand its hate-crime law to add stiffer penalties for attacks on the homeless.

At least five other states are pondering similar steps, the District of Columbia approved such a measure this week, and a like bill was introduced last week in Congress.

A report due out this weekend from the National Coalition for the Homeless documents a rise in violence over the last decade, with at least 880 unprovoked attacks against the homeless at the hands of nonhomeless people, including 244 fatalities. An advance copy was provided to The New York Times.
read more here
Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws
Linked from RawStory

Flights end in tragedy for families

Flights end in tragedy for two families
Collision of helicopter, plane over Hudson River claims nine people

updated 19 minutes ago
BLUE BELL, Pa. - For an Italian family it was supposed to be a joyous occasion — the celebration of 25 years of marriage. For a Pennsylvania family, it was a flight to the New Jersey shore that included a passing view of one of the world's most renowned skylines.

But the trips turned to disaster Saturday in the skies over New York when a tourist helicopter ferrying five Italian tourists and a small plane with two Pennsylvania men and one of their sons collided over the Hudson River. Nine people, including three teenagers, died.

The five Italian tourists, all from the Bologna area, were 51-year-old Michele Norelli; his 16-year-old son, Filippo Norelli; his 49-year-old friend Fabio Gallazzi; Gallazzi's wife, 44-year-old Tiziana Pedroni; and their son, 15-year-old Giacomo Gallazzi. The pilot of the helicopter was Jeremy Clarke, of Lanoka Harbor, N.J.


The plane was piloted by Steven Altman, a 60-year-old development executive from Ambler, Penn. With him was his brother Daniel Altman, 49, of Dresher, Pa., and Daniel Altman's 16-year-old son, Douglas.
read more here
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32350040/

Stroke of luck: 90 year old "miracle man" sees again

Stroke of luck: 90 year old sees again

By Valerie Hurst, KATU News and KATU.com Staff
Video
TUALATIN, Ore. -- Martin Alvey is not the only one calling it a miracle. His family, his neighbors also do.

They know that Alvey could only see people and things clearly if they were about a foot away. Today, it is a whole new world for him.

Marty, as he likes to be called, refers to himself as a young and tender 90-year-old. He suffers from macular degeneration, which means his eyesight should continue to get worse. He became legally blind a couple years ago.
read more here
http://www.katu.com/news/local/52798457.html
linked from CNN

51 US soldiers in Iraq diagnosed with swine flu

51 US soldiers in Iraq diagnosed with swine flu
By CHELSEA J. CARTER (AP) – 5 hours ago

BAGHDAD — Fifty-one American troops in Iraq have been diagnosed with and treated for swine flu, while another 71 soldiers remain in isolation suspected of contracting the potentially deadly virus, the U.S. military said Sunday.

The figures were released as Iraqi health officials confirmed Sunday the country's first swine flu death.

A woman in the southern holy Shiite city of Najaf died of the disease, raising fears about a possible outbreak among worshippers making pilgrimages to the revered sites.

All the 51 U.S. troops diagnosed with the flu have fully recovered, while the 71 suspect cases are in isolation, said Col. Michael D. Eisenhauer, the chief of clinical operations in Iraq.
read more here
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Specialist Alexander Miller funeral mass

Both sides of the walkway into the church were lined by men and women holding flags from the Patriot Guard Riders, Nam Knights and other groups.

This General went around and shook every hand. Someone said he is General Livingston.
We stood in the hot sun while people came to pay their respects, then while the mass was going on.
I couldn't take the heat and went under the shade near the church. The most amazing thing happened. Alex's father came out and thanked the people standing there. He wanted us to pass on is thank you to everyone there because it meant a lot to the family. One of the men standing near me said "It's our honor to do it."

I was amazed to see so many in full dress uniform, military and troopers along with many others, wondering how they could take that kind of heat when I had a lot less on than they did, but was ready to pass out. Remarkable people!

When I did the post the other day about When They Can Ask No More of Us, this is part of what I was talking about. It was done to honor Spec. Miller but also to honor his family. We get to go home and spend time with our lives but they have to carry on missing one of their own and that, that's heartbreaking. So many others stood there in the burning heat, brought water bottles to share as they acted to take care of this fallen soldier and his family. It was moving beyond words.

Fallen Clermont Soldier, 21, Laid To Rest Today

Sunday, August 09, 2009 8:32:11 AM

CLERMONT -- The family and friends of a Lake County soldier killed in Afghanistan will say their final goodbyes Sunday.

Funeral services are scheduled at 2:30 p.m. Sunday for Army Specialist Alexander Miller, 21, who died earlier in the month after his unit was attacked by enemy forces.

The military brought back Miller’s remains to Orlando International Airport Friday. His body was then taken home to Lake County.

A visitation service for Miller runs from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., followed immediately by his funeral, both at the First United Methodist Church, located at 950 7th St., in Clermont.

Members of the Patriot Guard of Florida salute the family of Alexander J. Miller as they enter the First United Methodist Church of Clermont on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2009, for his memorial service. (Emily Jourdan for the Orlando Sentinel / August 9, 2009)

Clermont soldier's funeral draws overflow crowd


By Stephen Hudak

Sentinel Staff Writer

5:04 PM EDT, August 9, 2009
CLERMONT - Friends and relatives are gathering this afternoon to remember Army Spc. Alexander J. Miller of Clermont, who was killed July 31 in Afghanistan.

An overflow crowd turned out for visitation for Miller, 21, at First United Methodist Church of Clermont, where the funeral will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Miller, who attended East Ridge High in Clermont, died from injuries sustained after insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire to attack his unit. He was with the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), based in Fort Drum, N.Y.
click link for more

Wounded Soldiers Cast Off Burdens as They Fish on the Bay

Wounded Soldiers Cast Off Burdens as They Fish on the Bay

By Emma Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, August 9, 2009

The worst thing you can do when you're recovering from war is stay in your room, said Sgt. 1st Class Carlos Martinez, who served four tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You get in your head, it becomes like a movie," said Martinez, 50, who was injured during his last tour and medically evacuated for traumatic brain injury, shrapnel in his knee and post-traumatic stress disorder. "I can't handle being alone."

On Saturday, a band of Calvert County volunteers gave Martinez and more than 50 other wounded soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center a chance to get out of their rooms -- and their heads -- and into a boat on the Chesapeake Bay.

Under a just-past-dawn sky quilted in clouds, a school bus escorted by the Red Knights, a motorcycle club for firefighters, pulled into the parking lot of the Rod 'N' Reel restaurant and marina in Chesapeake Beach. The soldiers, some with braces and casts, stepped down from the bus to a cheering crowd of locals waving American flags.
read more here
Wounded Soldiers Cast Off Burdens as They Fish on the Bay

Alpha Troop, Vietnam Vet, Kenny Euge waits for honor in face of eviction

The battles never end: Dupo man has fought post-traumatic stress disorder for almost 40 years
BY MIKE FITZGERALD - News-Democrat

Last month, just a few days apart, two letters arrived in Kenny Euge's mailbox in rural St. Clair County near Dupo.

Each letter, in its own way, rocked Euge's world.

The first letter came from the county zoning office. The second letter came from a Texas multimillionaire. It contained a message about an event half a world away that has haunted Euge for nearly four decades.

The zoning office letter announced county plans to evict Euge in 30 days from his home -- a bright red railroad caboose -- because his property had become the subject of complaints.

The letter represented the latest battle in Euge's long-running war with the county over his property -- an enclave carved out among southern St. Clair County's rolling hills, the boundaries of which are staked out by Euge's twin obsessions: vehicles and the sculpture art he's created out of the stuff of landfills and junkyards.

The second letter came from an entirely unexpected source -- John Poindexter, a Houston industrialist. As a young captain in 1970, Poindexter was Alpha Troop's hard-charging commander.

The Poindexter letter informed Euge that he and other Alpha Troop members had been selected to receive the Presidential Unit Citation, a rare honor bestowed on military units that have shown extraordinary courage and determination under the most deadly conditions.

The citation recognizes Alpha Troop's actions during a battle that unfolded on March 25-26, 1970.
read more here
http://www.bnd.com/homepage/story/875728.html

God gave us Godly Men

The daily reminder from Papa Roy, and IFOC Chaplain and dear friend, sent today puts what I've been trying to say a lot better than I could. He always manages to do it.

Good morning, Friends! Grace to you.

Sent by Papa Roy
God, Give us Godly Men



God, give us men...ribbed with the steel of Your Spirit...men who will not flinch when the battle is fierce...who won’t acquiesce at the bargaining table or compromise in principle. Give us men who won’t retreat on the battlefield...men who won’t sell out for lucre or convenience. God, give us men who won’t be bought, bartered, or badgered by the enemy...men who will go the distance, pay the price, suffer the loss...make the sacrifice...stand the ground, and hold high the torch of conviction in the face of pressure. (Bob Moorehead)


Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Jude 1:21)

When soldiers are in combat, they see all the worst mankind is capable of because they focus on staying alive. They cannot see what is within them as a gift in the midst of all the suffering. This is not about God picking sides but standing by the side of the soldier and living within him.

To each man and woman, there is a gift within each of us to provide us with everything we need to overcome the world. By this I mean anything that happens in our lives, living for the purpose we came into this world for.

Godly men and women walk this earth as simply as any other human, each contributing according to their own gifts. For the men and women with the courage to risk their lives for others, there are many among them with the gift of deep compassion. These are the men and women suffering the most with PTSD because the level they are able to feel is so deep and consuming, it penetrates their soul. If they are able to find God there in the moments of "evil" as man destroys man, they know they were there for a reason and God was with them. If they cannot find God in those moments, then they walk away from it thinking God either judged them, condemned them or abandoned them. They cannot see their compassion was from God and was there all the time.

Compassionate people are not cowards. In truth, compassion require courage or it is worthless. In the face of "evil" if compassionate people do not act against "evil" then it wins. It is not just a matter of the enemy being an example of evil, but the evil inside each of us with our own freewill to do harm to others. Each one of us are capable of living up to what we were sent to do through God's grace or turning on God to do as we see fit. Yet when we follow what our soul is saying to us, we live in moments of grace even in the fact of evil.

Selfishness is rooted in the part of us that says "do nothing" or to "seek revenge" because we focus only on ourselves. We want to stay safe when someone else is in danger. We want to seek revenge when someone has harmed us, attacked us or someone we care about. Human nature lives within each of us but it is God's nature that overcomes what humans want to do if we follow where He leads.

In a moment of combat as man is trying to destroy man, Godly men/women, filled with compassion, live as God's grace of compassion beats within them. While others may begin to be fueled by hatred and seeking revenge, the Godly show compassion enough to keep the others from turning into monsters as "evil" tries to take control over them. The Godly warrior is there with the gift from God in the midst of the worst man has to offer.

If they understand this, then they are able to heal quickly from what they see and what they have to do. God understood that goodness within would always have to combat evil within. He created a warrior angel before He created mankind. The Archangel Michael stands with a shield in his hands as a warrior angel because freewill can either fuel goodness or evil and because of this, there always has to be a greater angel among the rest with the compassion to soften others.

When they have "tender hearts" they also have to be provided with the gift of courage to act on the compassion pulling them to act with compassion. Moments of greatness when a soldier will think of others first, leave a safe distance for himself, rush into danger to save others and place himself in harms way. This required courage to act on the compassion within them for the sake of others, yet we do not see this. We see only the act of courage and honor their sacrifice with posthumous medals for their courage, but not for the compassion they felt for others to lay down their lives for them.

Some say compassion does not belong in combat but those saying it do not understand without compassionate people, the entire world would be in constant combat, there would be no rules to stop anyone, restrain them from going too far or even to inspire them to save the lives of the others they serve with. Compassion for the sake of their countrymen is what is the basis of their willingness to serve at all. We see this in the civilized world with police officers and firefighters along with first responders. They risk their lives daily for the sake of others and again, it required compassion as the basis.

When a warrior understands God's love and gifts, they are able to heal from what they go through easier than if they did not fully understand what God enabled them with. Without this understanding, they keep wondering where God was instead of knowing He was there within them. They have nothing to support them as their compassion begins to feel more of a curse instead of a gift and they suffer emotionally.

PTSD is a wound to the soul, to the region of the brain where emotions live, thus where the soul lives. Understanding the basis of what is within them can help them to heal but not understanding it allows doubt to penetrate them. They then question everything. They question the existence of God Himself because of what they saw. How could there be a loving God allowing all of that to go on? Where was God when my friend needed Him? Where was God when a child died? Where was He when I had to take a life? These questions run through their minds and as they seek the wrong answers, they seek to stop feeling because the pain becomes too great of a burden to carry alone. Without the ability to trust God anymore, they are alone.

We want God to stop wars and let us prevail, but the other side is asking the same God for the same outcome. We ask Him to save the lives of our friends, but the other side is asking the same. We ask He watch over our soldiers at the same time prayers are being given for the same from the other side. God cannot control what man does to man any more than He can control if we walk away from Him or run to Him. That is up to all of us to choose. If we know Him, trust Him and know that God has provided all we need to do what we were sent to do, then we heal from what other people do. The compassion within Godly men/women, is there for a blessing and not a curse, if we know how to find it.

If you have yet to understand God, seek the answers from the Ten Commandments and from the Red Letters of the New Testament. The Ten Commandments are in two parts. The first, about our relationship with God and the second part about our relationship with other people. It is a love letter from God. The Red Letters of the New Testament are what is reported Christ said and what He said agrees with the Ten Commandments. If whatever else you find in the pages of the Bible do not agree with them, then consider it man's interpretation of what God intended. The Bible is filled with mankind getting it wrong all the time. You will find God's love and understand the gifts/blessings He has provided you with and know He was there all along living within you through your soul. And then, then you can begin to heal.

Spc. Cody Ford's grave memorial replaced after theft and heartbreak

Battle cross again graces soldier's grave
Authorities say suspects' trail has gone cold
By BRIAN ROGERS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 8, 2009, 8:51PM
Philip Ford's blood begins to boil as he talks about the thieves who desecrated his son's grave and stole the bronzed battle cross commemorating the ultimate sacrifice made by Cody Ford, a 21-year-old U.S. Army specialist who was killed in Iraq.

“This is not about me. This is not about the family. This is about the inconsiderate people who took this monument,” Philip Ford said Saturday at the dedication ceremony of a new battle cross — a helmet perched on a rifle above Cody Ford's boots, welded together and bronzed — on a stone base.

“I hope Cody haunts them for the rest of their lives. They will answer to the Almighty God after that,” he said.

More than 50 people, including several veterans, turned out to see the monument unveiled.

A member of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry (Airborne), Cody Ford was riding in a Humvee that drove over an improvised explosive device on Dec. 10, 2006. He was killed along with two other soldiers, Sgt. Brennan C. Gibson, 26, of Tualatin, Ore., and Pfc. Shawn M. Murphy, 24, of Fort Bragg, N.C.

Standing in Gulf Prairie cemetery in Jones Creek, a small town 60 miles south of Houston, Philip Ford cried as he spoke about his son and the people who donated money and time to replace the 5-foot-tall sculpture, which was stolen in late January.
read more here
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6565589.html

Man saved by hiker after falling down mountain

Hero mountain runner: 'I heard someone yell help!'
An Ellensburg man is being hailed as a hero after his rescue of a solo hiker who had fallen nearly 200 feet down a rocky mountainside off the Pacific Crest Trail near North Bend. Officials say the hiker would have died without the man's help.
Read his first-person account of the rescue »