U.S troops killed in action have a last ally

U.S troops killed in action have a last ally
By Misty Showalter, CNN
updated 8:33 AM EST, Thu January 26, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Scientists and historians, military and civilians aim to recover all missing U.S. service personnel
The Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command digs at battle sites and crash sites for remains
In the lab they use dental records, photo recognition software and DNA tests to put a name to the remains
They call it the most honorable mission in the military

Editor's note: A team dedicated to finding, recovering and identifying every missing U.S. service member opens its doors to CNN International. Watch "World's Untold Story" Friday January 27 at 2330 ET, Saturday at 1630 ET and Sunday at 2330 ET.

Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii (CNN) -- There is a skull here, hundreds of fragments of bones there. Table after table is lined with human remains. One holds a near-complete skeleton, another has hundreds of tiny pieces of bone that could come from many different people.

Together, it tells the story of life and death in the military.

At the world's largest skeletal identification laboratory more than 30 forensic anthropologists, archaeologists and dentists of Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command are working to put names to the remains.

Based at Hickam Air Force Base -- site of the Pearl Harbor attack -- in Honolulu, Hawaii, JPAC is made up of all branches of the U.S. military and civilian scientists, united in the goal of bringing back all 84,000 U.S. service members who went missing during war or military action.
read more here

An Iraq Vet's Journey From Wall Street to OWS

An Iraq Vet's Journey From Wall Street to OWS
Derek McGee January 25, 2012

In late September 2001, I was living in a tent in Lower Manhattan with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines, a reserve unit just outside the city. We were occupying Battery Park, which at the time served as the National Guard's headquarters. "Guarding the guard," we called it.

The two weeks I spent there were profoundly affecting. There I was, at the center of the world, watching America at its finest, showing at once nearly impossible perseverance and limitless compassion. Generosity sprouted everywhere throughout New York City; people gave out food, shoe inserts, massages, coffee, flowers, hugs, kind words and anything you needed. I told someone I liked Red Bull, and hours later he came to my tent, dragging a handcart with eight cases of the stuff. I would slip one under each of the other marines' pillows while they slept, and when we woke up for guard duty I would say the Red Bull fairy had come.

Exploring the city on my one afternoon off, I stumbled upon the Wall Street Bull. The smooth metal sculpture is stunning, always on the verge of some wild movement—a lunge or a charge, at the least, a bellow with a head toss. Too tarnished to be gold, too big to be a calf, it's revered nonetheless. I would come fairly close to worshiping it myself years later. But for now, I just had my picture taken on top of it. From where I stood, the whole world seemed to feel empathy. It was one of the only times in my life that I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be.

Another time was when I was living under a bridge along the Euphrates River. A nearly ceaseless convoy rolled overhead. I wasn't particularly keen on the invasion of Iraq, but if we had to have one, I knew I needed to be there with my fellow marines. A Subaru filled with reporters pulled up and offered us cigarettes to hasten our search of their car. "They're just outside Baghdad," they told us. The whole world is watching, I thought.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran dies after being punched by 18 year old

Vietnam vet dies after being punched by 18-year-old during traffic confrontation
66-year-old bumped man's girlfriend with car: cops

BY PHILIP CAULFIELD / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, January 25, 2012,

An 18-year-old New Jersey man is facing murder charges after cops say he killed an aging Vietnam vet with one punch during a traffic dust-up.

Allen Briscoe, 66, suffered a brain aneurysm caused by blunt force trauma and died at a south Jersey hospital on Monday night after falling and hitting his head during the confrontation Aleem Mayes, NBC Philadelphia reported.

Cops say Briscoe was driving to pick up his girlfriend near his home in East Camden at around 7:30 p.m. when he accidentally bumped Mayes' pregnant girlfriend "at very low speed" with his black Ford F-150, cops say.

The 16-year-old girl was knocked to the ground, and Briscoe rushed out of the cab to help her, cops say.

read more here

GAO finds Defense Center for Excellence lacking

GAO: DoD fails to detail mental health spending
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 25, 2012 19:18:28 EST
A new report from a congressional watchdog agency raises concerns about the Defense Department’s accounting of $2.7 billion marked for treating and researching psychological health issues and traumatic brain injuries.

The report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office says DoD has not provided reports required by law detailing how those funds were spent. The money was distributed between fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2010.

The GAO described as “unreliable” the obligations data — information that gives an overview of what contracts and programs the funds support — in the reports.

“We found that the Tricare Management Activity, which administered funds allocated to [the Defense Centers of Excellence] had not developed written policies and procedures to ensure the proper recording of obligations and that it had not properly classified most of DCoE’s fiscal 2009 contract obligations,” the report states.

GAO also said the strategic plan of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, responsible for the Pentagon’s head injury and behavioral health programs, lacked clear guidance on its statutory responsibilities.

Instead, responsibilities for creating standards of care for injured and mentally ill service members as well as training, outreach, research and patient care are spread among the DCoEs, Tricare, the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and other agencies.
read more here

Fort Bragg soldier out of hospital, in police custody

Fort Bragg soldier out of hospital, in police custody
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier is out of the hospital and in custody after being treated for injuries he received during a police shootout nearly two weeks ago.

Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Eisenhauer, 30, was released from UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill on Tuesday and faced a District Court judge in a Cumberland County courtroom Wednesday on 30 charges stemming from the Jan. 13 standoff.

Police say Eisenhauer fired several shots at police and firefighters responding to a fire at his third-floor apartment in the Austin Creek Apartments complex and then barricaded himself inside.

Four hours later, a special response team used explosives to take down the door to Eisenhauer's apartment. He was found injured on the kitchen floor.

Authorities haven't said how he was injured, but court records show police fired back. His father said last week that his son had three gunshot wounds.
read more here
also
Fort Bragg soldier in standoff