Wheelchair stolen from Long Island Iraq war vet
Equipment was covered with an embroidered purple heart, military stickers
BY JOE KEMP / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, January 20 2012, 3:47 PM
A wounded Iraqi war veteran who lost both legs when his Humvee was hit by a bomb had his wheelchair stolen from the front yard of his Long Island home, cops said.
Christopher Levi — who served as a corporal in the U.S. Army and was critically injured after his five-car convoy was bombed in Baghdad in 2008 — noticed the wheelchair was missing about 5:45 p.m. Thursday, he told police.
The Army Ranger said he left the wheelchair on the front lawn of his Holbrook home to run errands in his handicapped accessible vehicle.
The blue wheelchair dons an embroidered Purple Heart, a U.S. Army seal and several military stickers.
He told reporters that he considered the theft to be “despicable, malicious, immature.”
The VA gave him a loaner wheelchair, but he wants to find his own.
read more here
Friday, January 20, 2012
Military, Police, and Fire Men and Women will get free admission to motorcycle show
We’re proud to announce that Military, Police, and Fire Men and Women will get free admission to this weekend’s Progressive International Motorcycle Show in NYCBring your ID !
Veterans can get a discount too by using "Military" at checkout.
The Progressive International Motorcycle Show is your #1 place to see get the latest Motorcycle news, products, and custom bikes. Already the largest motorcycle show around, this year’s New York event is going to be bigger than 2011. More bikes, more products, and more learning opportunities. There are several show features for you to enjoy, such as the Dream Pavilion, Smage Bros Stunt Show, Ultimate Builder Custom Bike show with a $90k prize, and Kawasaki Design-a-Bike.
Veterans can get a discount too by using "Military" at checkout.
The Progressive International Motorcycle Show is your #1 place to see get the latest Motorcycle news, products, and custom bikes. Already the largest motorcycle show around, this year’s New York event is going to be bigger than 2011. More bikes, more products, and more learning opportunities. There are several show features for you to enjoy, such as the Dream Pavilion, Smage Bros Stunt Show, Ultimate Builder Custom Bike show with a $90k prize, and Kawasaki Design-a-Bike.
Visible and unseen combat injuries are wreaking havoc with the sex lives
DoD studies intimacy issues among combat vets
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 19, 2012
Brannan Pedersen was 16, attending a young activists meeting in Alabama when she first spotted Caleb Vines, then 19, an enthusiastic organizer who wanted to change the world.
She fell hard: Three years after their first date, they married. Later, when they watched the World Trade Center fall, Caleb pledged to join the fight: He enlisted in the Army infantry.
He deployed twice to Iraq — a 15-month stint extended by the Battle of Fallujah, then a year filled with bomb blasts and small-arms fire. At one point, a rocket-propelled grenade blasted him through the door of a Humvee.
But he came home seemingly unscathed. During their first reunion, Brannan recalled, Caleb was distant but affectionate. The couple conceived a child.
After his second deployment, however, Caleb changed from easygoing and enthusiastic to withdrawn, angry and forgetful.
Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and, later, traumatic brain injury followed. It provided an explanation for his symptoms, but that didn’t ease the emotional — and physical — gulf between the couple, Brannan said.
“Guys with PTSD have a much harder time being physically close, let alone emotionally close. And from a woman’s perspective, you almost require that closeness to be invested in a sexual relationship,” Brannan said.
‘ELEPHANT IN THE BEDROOM’
With an estimated 400,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan thought to have suffered an injury — either physical or mental — in the combat zones, the Pentagon, civilian behavioral health specialists and military couples are starting to talk about what Brannan calls the “elephant in the bedroom”: the fact that both visible and unseen combat injuries are wreaking havoc with the sex lives of service members and veterans.
read more here
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 19, 2012
Brannan Pedersen was 16, attending a young activists meeting in Alabama when she first spotted Caleb Vines, then 19, an enthusiastic organizer who wanted to change the world.
She fell hard: Three years after their first date, they married. Later, when they watched the World Trade Center fall, Caleb pledged to join the fight: He enlisted in the Army infantry.
He deployed twice to Iraq — a 15-month stint extended by the Battle of Fallujah, then a year filled with bomb blasts and small-arms fire. At one point, a rocket-propelled grenade blasted him through the door of a Humvee.
But he came home seemingly unscathed. During their first reunion, Brannan recalled, Caleb was distant but affectionate. The couple conceived a child.
After his second deployment, however, Caleb changed from easygoing and enthusiastic to withdrawn, angry and forgetful.
Diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and, later, traumatic brain injury followed. It provided an explanation for his symptoms, but that didn’t ease the emotional — and physical — gulf between the couple, Brannan said.
“Guys with PTSD have a much harder time being physically close, let alone emotionally close. And from a woman’s perspective, you almost require that closeness to be invested in a sexual relationship,” Brannan said.
‘ELEPHANT IN THE BEDROOM’
With an estimated 400,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan thought to have suffered an injury — either physical or mental — in the combat zones, the Pentagon, civilian behavioral health specialists and military couples are starting to talk about what Brannan calls the “elephant in the bedroom”: the fact that both visible and unseen combat injuries are wreaking havoc with the sex lives of service members and veterans.
read more here
Presidential candidates need to stop lying to veterans
Presidential candidates need to stop lying to veterans
by
Chaplain Kathie
A long time ago I promised a young Marine I would not post on political issues unless it had something to do with them. This is one of those times.
CNN reported on what was said during the debate to replace Obama by GOP candidates. Either Santorum does not know what the facts are or he was just lying. Not sure but either way, he's been in congress long enough to know how bad things were and how much has been done since the current President was elected.
I get furious when smart people I know say stupid things that are not based on facts but something they heard someone say. Most of the time they end up making claims that Obama has been bad for the military and veterans but the facts are the facts and this is simply not true.
That's why I felt the need to post on this report from CNN. It is one thing to say something that is not true but worse when they are talking about veterans and the military. These men and women should never be used to score some points by either side.
by
Chaplain Kathie
A long time ago I promised a young Marine I would not post on political issues unless it had something to do with them. This is one of those times.
CNN reported on what was said during the debate to replace Obama by GOP candidates. Either Santorum does not know what the facts are or he was just lying. Not sure but either way, he's been in congress long enough to know how bad things were and how much has been done since the current President was elected.
I get furious when smart people I know say stupid things that are not based on facts but something they heard someone say. Most of the time they end up making claims that Obama has been bad for the military and veterans but the facts are the facts and this is simply not true.
That's why I felt the need to post on this report from CNN. It is one thing to say something that is not true but worse when they are talking about veterans and the military. These men and women should never be used to score some points by either side.
Truth Squad: 4 checks on Thursday's GOP debate
CNN examines statements by Republican presidential candidates during Monday night's CNN Southern Republican Debate in Charleston, South Carolina.
Rick Santorum on President Obama's budget cuts
The statement: "We have the president of the United States who said he is going to cut veterans benefits, cut our military, at a time when these folks are four, five, six, seven tours, coming back, in and out of jobs, sacrificing everything for this country. And the president of the United States can't cut one penny out of the social welfare system and he wants to cut a trillion dollars out of our military and hit our veterans, and that's disgusting."
The facts: The Obama administration has struggled to bring down a staggering - and growing - budget deficit since taking office in 2009. Depressed tax revenues due to the 2007-2009 recession, spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, increased aid to the unemployed and the last of Obama's 2009 economic stimulus bill helped the deficit swell to a projected $1.3 trillion for the fiscal year 2011.
The 2010 election put added pressure on the administration as anti-tax, anti-spending Republicans took control of the House of Representatives, resulting in three budgetary standoffs between Congress and the White House in 2011.
Obama has in fact proposed a series of budget cuts, to the dismay of many of his own supporters. In September, he proposed wringing more than $300 billion from Medicare and Medicaid - the federal health-care programs for the poor and elderly - as part of an effort to reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade. In August, his budget chief warned government agencies to brace for cuts of 5% to 10% for 2013. And in January 2010, the administration proposed savings of $250 billion by freezing all nonsecurity discretionary spending for three years.
The departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs were exempted from that proposal. But the administration projects it will save $1.1 trillion on defense in the coming 10 years - largely because the war in Iraq is over, and U.S. troops are being pulled back from Afghanistan.
And Obama has proposed increases in federal spending on veterans. Its 2012 budget request was up 10.6% "to meet increased need" by Americans who have served in the military over the past decade, and a 3.5% increase is projected for 2013.
One cloud on the horizon is the $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts now hanging over the heads of Congress. Half of that will fall on the Pentagon unless negotiators come up with a different plan.
But that won't happen until 2013 and can be averted if lawmakers can cut projected deficits by an equal amount.
The verdict: False. Santorum is wrong on two counts. Obama has proposed cuts to significant portions of the U.S. safety net, while adding spending on veterans benefits to accommodate the large number of returning American veterans. And a big portion of the planned defense cuts come from the end of two long-running wars.
read more here
Veteran's Dog Rises From Ashes Of Fire That Killed Three Other Pets
Veteran's Dog Rises From Ashes Of Fire That Killed Three Other Pets (VIDEO)
In just two short days, a New Haven, Connecticut, veteran named Mike experienced two devastating events that changed his life forever. First, he was involved in a serious car crash. Then, an apartment fire destroyed all his possessions and left him homeless.
Now, a bit of sunshine has returned to Mike's life after firefighters combing through the debris discovered his beloved pitbull Spooky had survived the flames by hiding in a closet, the Connecticut Post reports.
"All of a sudden a big pit bull sat up in the middle of the debris," Kevin Plummer of United Cleaning and Restoration told the paper. "We grabbed him by the collar and brought him down to the ground. He didn't bark. He didn't growl. He's a good dog."
read more here
In just two short days, a New Haven, Connecticut, veteran named Mike experienced two devastating events that changed his life forever. First, he was involved in a serious car crash. Then, an apartment fire destroyed all his possessions and left him homeless.
Now, a bit of sunshine has returned to Mike's life after firefighters combing through the debris discovered his beloved pitbull Spooky had survived the flames by hiding in a closet, the Connecticut Post reports.
"All of a sudden a big pit bull sat up in the middle of the debris," Kevin Plummer of United Cleaning and Restoration told the paper. "We grabbed him by the collar and brought him down to the ground. He didn't bark. He didn't growl. He's a good dog."
read more here
Man's best friend survives fire by hiding in closet: wtnh.com
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