Thousands welcome twice-injured Marine back home

Thousands welcome twice-injured Marine back home

Injured Marine Sgt. Ben Tomlinson is greeted by members of an honor guard following a welcome home celebration Wednesday in his hometown of Jacksonville. His father, Chuck Tomlinson, is pushing the wheelchair. / DAVE MARTIN/AP

Written by
Jay Reeves
The Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE -- A Marine twice injured in Afghanistan received a hero's welcome Wednesday from thousands of well-wishers waving flags and cheering in his Alabama hometown.

Sgt. Ben Tomlinson grinned widely from the family's minivan as a motorcade led by a long line of police cars roared into the city square in Jacksonville for a brief ceremony that included the mayor's declaration of "Ben Tomlinson Day." The one-time all-county football player and track athlete was shot in the chest on patrol about eight months ago during his second deployment to the country.

Two fire trucks held aloft a big flag between ladders, and motorcycle riders stood at attention with more flags. Elementary school students lined the streets.
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Congressmen urged to invite Iraq Veterans to State of Union

Iraq vets invited to State of the Union

Posted: Jan 18, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, AL -
Congressman Spencer Bachus (AL-6) is urging Members of Congress to invite Iraq war veterans to attend next Tuesday's State of the Union Address in the U.S. Capitol.

In a bipartisan letter Wednesday, Congressman Bachus and Representatives Jeff Miller (FL), Tim Walz (MN), and Marcia Fudge (OH) asked colleagues to make a special effort to invite returning veterans to the House gallery for the Presidential address.

Bachus said his personal guest will be Noah Galloway of Alabaster, who was severely wounded in Iraq and has since become a spokesman for injured veterans.

Rep. Todd Akin thinks Arm Medevac helos to save more lives

Lawmaker: Arm Medevac helos to save more lives
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 17, 2012 19:35:22 EST
A key lawmaker says the military could save more lives in Afghanistan if the Army would arm its Medevac helicopters rather than worry about its commitment to the Geneva Convention.

Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a letter sent Tuesday to the Defense Department that current Army policy of having unarmed Medevac helicopters is slowing transport of injured troops. The helicopters, marked with a red cross, are accompanied by armed aircraft when flying into dangerous areas.

Army officials responded to Akin’s letter, making the case for continuing the MEDEVAC program as it now stands. Adding weapons, they say, would take up space and weight that could be used for patients.

“Longstanding Army policy and doctrine prohibit the mounting of crew-serve weapons on MEDEVAC aircraft and provide detailed guidance on the utilization of the MEDEVAC aircraft, lest the platform lose its protected status under the Geneva Convention,” the Army wrote in an email to Army Times. “AH64 is infinitely more effective in targeting enemy and protecting MEDEVAC helicopters than arming the MEDEVAC itself.”
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PETA to Army: Investigate sheep-beating video

This video is on their site. The person described as "a soldier" is in civilian clothes, so who knows how they figured out it was a soldier?

PETA to Army: Investigate sheep-beating video
By Joe Gould - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 17, 2012 17:08:33 EST
The animal rights group PETA is calling on the Army to investigate a video depicting what appears to be soldiers watching while a sheep is beaten with a baseball bat.

In the video, posted to PETA’s website Jan. 13, the sheep is repeatedly clubbed by a man in civilian clothes amid laughter and whooping.

“When you have a group standing around and gratuitously and ineptly smashing at this poor animal, the Army needs to say this won’t be tolerated,” said PETA President Ingrid Newkirk told Army Times.

She said PETA was sent the video anonymously, and it has since been posted online. She said has heard from current and former service members who condemn the beating, and she is called on the “top brass” to do the same.
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From PETA

Sheep-beating Video Surfaces

Written by PETA 3 hours ago

UPDATE: PETA has just been informed that the Army never received the letter and apparently never received the thousands of calls or tweets from PETA supporters, including those from Hollywood songwriter Diane Warren, either. We will keep you posted as we hear more.

The following was originally posted January 13, 2012:

Last year, a scandalous video emerged of a U.S. marine throwing a puppy off a cliff. Now there is this video of a soldier repeatedly beating a sheep with a baseball bat to the whoops and laughter of other soldiers who are looking on. I would say "beating to death" because that is probably what happened, but we do not know the upshot. We only know, from watching the video and seeing the mood of the soldiers -- and what appears to be a local lad who arrived with the animal -- that the sheep could only have come to a very nasty end. He or she tries to rise several times but the soldier continues to thwack away amid the laughter.
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Wife of beaten Marine feels compassion for husband's killer

Wife of beaten Marine feels compassion for husband's killer
Submitted by WWAY on Tue, 01/17/2012
JACKSONVILLE, NC (WCTI) -- A Marine's wife says she feels nothing but compassion for the service member who investigators say fatally wounded her husband.

Staff Sergeant Jimmie Senn, 34, died from severe head trauma Saturday, days after police say he was punched by fellow Camp Lejeune Marine, 22-year-old Brandon Cotter.
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