Gunman in Afghan uniform kills U.S. soldier
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – A man in an Afghan army uniform opened fire on a group of Americans at a base in the south of the country, killing a U.S. soldier and wounding another, an Afghan military spokesman said Monday.
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Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Last Vietnam veteran in Florida Air National Guard retires
Last Vietnam veteran in Florida Air National Guard retires
Written by Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa
January 8, 2012
Feature Stories
Command Chief Master Sgt. Charles Wisniewski completes 41 years of military service
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Jan. 8, 2012) – The last Vietnam veteran in the Florida Air National Guard is retiring and ending a more than 40 year military career.
State Command Chief Master Sgt. Charles Wisniewski, who served in Southeast Asia with the U.S. Air Force in 1972-1973, was honored during a retirement ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters Jan. 6.
“Today really marks the end of an era,” said Adjutant General of Florida Maj. Gen. Emmett Titshaw Jr. during the ceremony. “When we say goodbye to (Wisniewski) today, we say goodbye to the last Vietnam veteran in the Florida Air National Guard. That is a milestone.”
Wisniewski, 59, joined the Air Force in 1971 and served as a weapons technician at Utipoa Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. During his year in Thailand he helped load B-52 bombers flying into Vietnam on bombing missions, including during the famed Operation Linebacker II in late 1972.
Titshaw noted that veterans returning home from deployments today experience a much more supportive atmosphere than Vietnam veterans did in the 1960s and 1970s. And although the gesture was nearly 40 years later, the general prompted the audience to give a standing ovation and round of applause to Wisniewski for his service in Southeast Asia.
The adjutant general also presented Wisniewski with a Meritorious Service Medal and the Florida Cross for his service to the Florida National Guard.
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Written by Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa
January 8, 2012
Feature Stories
Command Chief Master Sgt. Charles Wisniewski completes 41 years of military service
Florida Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. Charles Wisniewski is the last member of the Florida Air National Guard to have served in the Vietnam conflict. Wisniewski, 59, joined the Air Force in 1971 and served as a weapons technician at Utipoa Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. During his year in Thailand he helped load B-52 bombers flying into Vietnam on bombing missions, including during the famed Operation Linebacker II in late 1972.He had more than 40 years of military service during his career. Photo by Master Sgt. Thomas Kielbasa
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (Jan. 8, 2012) – The last Vietnam veteran in the Florida Air National Guard is retiring and ending a more than 40 year military career.
State Command Chief Master Sgt. Charles Wisniewski, who served in Southeast Asia with the U.S. Air Force in 1972-1973, was honored during a retirement ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters Jan. 6.
“Today really marks the end of an era,” said Adjutant General of Florida Maj. Gen. Emmett Titshaw Jr. during the ceremony. “When we say goodbye to (Wisniewski) today, we say goodbye to the last Vietnam veteran in the Florida Air National Guard. That is a milestone.”
Wisniewski, 59, joined the Air Force in 1971 and served as a weapons technician at Utipoa Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. During his year in Thailand he helped load B-52 bombers flying into Vietnam on bombing missions, including during the famed Operation Linebacker II in late 1972.
Titshaw noted that veterans returning home from deployments today experience a much more supportive atmosphere than Vietnam veterans did in the 1960s and 1970s. And although the gesture was nearly 40 years later, the general prompted the audience to give a standing ovation and round of applause to Wisniewski for his service in Southeast Asia.
The adjutant general also presented Wisniewski with a Meritorious Service Medal and the Florida Cross for his service to the Florida National Guard.
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Vietnam Veterans Kids fighting Agent Orange War of Their Own
Denise Crosby: Health problems plague Vietnam vet’s daughter
By Denise Crosby
January 8, 2012 2:44AM
Craig Carson has dodged plenty of bullets so far in life.
He was one of just two surviving officers from the company he led through the boonies of Vietnam where, as a company commander in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, his orders were to “search and destroy” the enemy whose units were often “five to six times larger” and carrying more firepower.
“There were times you just knew this was the day you were going to die,” he says of the 11 months he spent in operations north of the city of Qui Nhon. “It was heavy combat ... I was lucky to walk out.”
At age 65, the 1964 West Aurora High grad — his family once owned the land where his alma mater now stands — and who went on to graduate from West Point, appears to have dodged yet another bullet.
Trampling through the countryside of central Vietnam, he got plenty of exposure to Agent Orange, the powerful exfoliate the U.S. government used to rid the enemy of the thick vegetation that was its greatest fighting asset. Carson is in good health, even as he has watched so many of his West Point classmates and fellow Vietnam comrades succumb to rare cancers and other illnesses associated with dioxin, the Agent Orange chemical now considered the most toxic ever created by man.
His daughter, however, has not been so fortunate.
Now in her mid 30s, she suffers from a host of maladies, including auto immune disorders that, Carson since learned, mirror the health problems of a generation of offspring whose parents served in Vietnam.
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By Denise Crosby
January 8, 2012 2:44AM
Craig Carson has dodged plenty of bullets so far in life.
He was one of just two surviving officers from the company he led through the boonies of Vietnam where, as a company commander in the 173rd Airborne Brigade, his orders were to “search and destroy” the enemy whose units were often “five to six times larger” and carrying more firepower.
“There were times you just knew this was the day you were going to die,” he says of the 11 months he spent in operations north of the city of Qui Nhon. “It was heavy combat ... I was lucky to walk out.”
At age 65, the 1964 West Aurora High grad — his family once owned the land where his alma mater now stands — and who went on to graduate from West Point, appears to have dodged yet another bullet.
Trampling through the countryside of central Vietnam, he got plenty of exposure to Agent Orange, the powerful exfoliate the U.S. government used to rid the enemy of the thick vegetation that was its greatest fighting asset. Carson is in good health, even as he has watched so many of his West Point classmates and fellow Vietnam comrades succumb to rare cancers and other illnesses associated with dioxin, the Agent Orange chemical now considered the most toxic ever created by man.
His daughter, however, has not been so fortunate.
Now in her mid 30s, she suffers from a host of maladies, including auto immune disorders that, Carson since learned, mirror the health problems of a generation of offspring whose parents served in Vietnam.
read more here
Cancer survivor credits Army's help
Sgt. 1st Class Ana Carrizo Cancer survivor credits Army's help
Written by
Laura Ungar
The Courier-Journal
Army Sgt. 1st Class Ana Carrizo is surviving breast cancer while her mother is dying of the disease.
Carrizo, 43, said she found her cancer early, thanks to an Army program that electronically reminds soldiers to get medical screenings. But her 69-year-old mother, Ruth Turner, who lives in Panama, found her disease late, and now it’s considered terminal.
“If I was not reminded to do the checks, I probably wouldn’t have found the cancer,” said Carrizo, who was diagnosed in December 2009. “Being female in the military, I think they do a great job … taking care of us.”
Carrizo, who works in operations at the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Campbell, has experienced many facets of Army care.
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Written by
Laura Ungar
The Courier-Journal
Army Sgt. 1st Class Ana Carrizo is surviving breast cancer while her mother is dying of the disease.
Carrizo, 43, said she found her cancer early, thanks to an Army program that electronically reminds soldiers to get medical screenings. But her 69-year-old mother, Ruth Turner, who lives in Panama, found her disease late, and now it’s considered terminal.
“If I was not reminded to do the checks, I probably wouldn’t have found the cancer,” said Carrizo, who was diagnosed in December 2009. “Being female in the military, I think they do a great job … taking care of us.”
Carrizo, who works in operations at the Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Fort Campbell, has experienced many facets of Army care.
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WWII vet tells of 42 months as Japanese POW
WWII vet tells of 42 months as Japanese POW
By Amy C. Rippel, Correspondent
January 8, 2012
MINNEOLA — After spending a horrific 42 months as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II, wasting away to nearly 90 pounds and being beaten within an inch of his life, you'd think Lee Wilson would have jumped at the chance to get his honorable discharge from the Navy and move on with his life.
But that simply wasn't Wilson's style. Instead, he returned his hometown in Kentucky, married his sweetheart and returned to duty. Today, Wilson and his wife Glenda, married for 65 years, have been enjoying their retirement in Minneola. With the most recent Veteran's Day fresh in mind, Wilson recalled his years of service, the horrors of being a prisoner of war and the joy of being reunited with his love. Despite his years in a prison camp, Wilson remains fervently patriotic.
"I'd do it all again for my country," said Wilson, 90.
Wilson was just 18 when he enlisted in the Navy. Even today, as aging and illness encroaches, Wilson can recall those years like they were yesterday. So poignant, his daughter-in-law Patricia Berg Wilson recorded them as a cherished family record.
"To know Lee Wilson is to know a true patriot," Patricia Berg Wilson wrote in her father-in-law's memoirs. "He is a proud American, yet a humble servant of God. For he knows that without his faith, he could have never been able to endure and survive the horrors of being a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp in WWII."
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By Amy C. Rippel, Correspondent
January 8, 2012
MINNEOLA — After spending a horrific 42 months as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II, wasting away to nearly 90 pounds and being beaten within an inch of his life, you'd think Lee Wilson would have jumped at the chance to get his honorable discharge from the Navy and move on with his life.
But that simply wasn't Wilson's style. Instead, he returned his hometown in Kentucky, married his sweetheart and returned to duty. Today, Wilson and his wife Glenda, married for 65 years, have been enjoying their retirement in Minneola. With the most recent Veteran's Day fresh in mind, Wilson recalled his years of service, the horrors of being a prisoner of war and the joy of being reunited with his love. Despite his years in a prison camp, Wilson remains fervently patriotic.
"I'd do it all again for my country," said Wilson, 90.
Wilson was just 18 when he enlisted in the Navy. Even today, as aging and illness encroaches, Wilson can recall those years like they were yesterday. So poignant, his daughter-in-law Patricia Berg Wilson recorded them as a cherished family record.
"To know Lee Wilson is to know a true patriot," Patricia Berg Wilson wrote in her father-in-law's memoirs. "He is a proud American, yet a humble servant of God. For he knows that without his faith, he could have never been able to endure and survive the horrors of being a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp in WWII."
read more here
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