Retired, wounded Navy SEAL's 5 Bronze Stars and Silver Star not good enough for VA?

UPDATE August 21, 2012

VA Overturns Decision on Navy SEAL Denied Contracts

Navy SEAL Shot In Afghanistan Loses Chance To Bid On VA Work
By Kathleen Miller
Bloomberg
Jul 20, 2012

Mark Lilly retired from the Navy SEALs with a Purple Heart, a Silver Star and five Bronze Stars after 23 years of service that included combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lilly, who said he oversaw development of military bases overseas, decided to make construction his next career. His company, Chesapeake, Virginia-based Syncon LLC, has attracted both commercial and U.S. government work since its start in 2009.

It wasn’t enough to get Syncon certified as a veteran-owned business after the Department of Veterans Affairs questioned whether he had enough experience. His firm is one of thousands of small businesses rejected by the VA since the agency stepped up efforts last year to prevent fraud. Lilly, 47, said his case shows the process may be hurting veterans even as the government seeks to boost opportunities for returning troops.

“It’s really disheartening,” Lilly, who said he was shot twice during the same incident while serving in Afghanistan, said in a telephone interview. “As you go through military retirement, the VA says they encourage you to be an entrepreneur and that they’ll support you the entire time. Now I find out the VA could very well be my demise.”
read more here

Man allegedly steals purse at Vietnman vet's funeral, caught in picture

UPDATE

Chino man charged in theft

Man allegedly steals purse at Vietnman vet's funeral, caught in picture
Thursday, July 19, 2012
ABC News
Leanne Suter

GLENDORA, Calif. (KABC) -- At first glance, it looks like an all-American tribute as a Marine Corps Honor Guard draped the coffin of a Vietnam veteran. But in the background as family and friends mourn and "Taps" is being played, a suspect is preying on those at their most vulnerable.

"We were literally right there, 25 feet away. We were right there, family, everyone around, you just wouldn't think that would happen," said Angela Earthman.

Earthman was burying her father, 64-year-old Eddie Rodriguez, in June when Glendora police say the suspect targeted her and her grieving family, breaking into their SUV and stealing her purse.

"There's stuff in there I can't replace, there's cards from family and friends that I never got to look at. That's the thing that hit me the most," she said.

When Earthman told her friend Nicole Sato, who was taking photos of burial at Oakdale Cemetery, she checked the pictures and realized she'd captured the suspect in action.

"I think it's disgusting, I couldn't believe it, I've never heard of such a thing in all my life. It was shocking and disturbing, and who would think to do something like that is beyond me," said Sato.
read more here

Why wasn't God in Colorado last night?

Why wasn't God in Colorado last night?
by Chaplain Kathie


Last night people went to see a movie. Last night people died because they went to that movie and so did a man with guns. We all woke up this morning in shock. We thought all the times we went to watch a movie with a bunch of strangers, never thinking anything like this could happen, but from now on last night will be on our minds the next time we go to the movies. It's human nature. It is also human nature to seek someone to blame.

The accused gunman is in police hands right now, so we assume we have someone to blame. Even with that, if you may still be needing to blame more, so you look to God to blame since He allowed it to happen. In times like this, we all ask "Where the hell was God?" "Why did He let this happen?" We also wonder if there really is a God anymore.

When we look for what was not done, we miss what was done. God does not mess with freewill no matter what. He wouldn't use his power to strike this man dead before he killed. (I will not glorify this man's name by using it.) Since God didn't stop him, we want to blame God without remembering all we do know about Him. He gave even the angels freewill, the right to make choices and yes, even the right to do horrible things but the angels remaining by God's side made the choice to stay with Him while a third of the angels decided to leave. Even God let them "live" and did not destroy them.


People are the same way. We are all able to make choices in our lives and this man made the choice to kill strangers. People he didn't know. People he didn't care about but managed somehow to hate them enough to kill them.

So where was God? Where He always is. He was there when people got away, out of danger but instead of running far away, they stopped to call for help because others were in danger or already wounded. He was there when someone stopped to help a stranger run away from evil and toward safety. There when a stranger cried for someone else. He was there people tried to comfort someone else after the danger was over, when they could have been only concerned with themselves.

God was there last night when the phone rang giving the bad news that someone is not coming back home. He was there when families rushed to the hospital to be by the side of one of the wounded. He was there when the police officers risked their lives last night and then had to get off their shift with all that pain in their souls. He was with the emergency responders and emergency room staffs when the wounded came in and they were there to help.

His love is there every time humans can show compassion in the midst of evil. He will be there as the prayers of this country join together for healing of the survivors as well as the families of the victims.

When we wonder where God was last night, He was as busy as ever every time a person did something for someone else. If you only focus on the evil that was done, that is all you'll find.

Military Casualties In Colorado Theater Shooting

Pentagon: Military Casualties In Theater Shooting
Aurora Mall Theater Is Near Buckley Air Force Base
July 20, 2012

AURORA, Colo. -- The Pentagon says that some members of the military were either killed or wounded in the Colorado shooting at a Batman movie.

A gunman wearing a gas mask set off an explosive device and then fired into a crowded movie theater near the Aurora Mall, killing 12 people and injuring at least 53 others during a midnight opening of the "The Dark Knight Rises."

Police arrested a man wearing a gas mask next to a white car in the parking lot behind the theater.
read more here

Police get help helping soldiers

Police get help helping soldiers
WTU leader uses unique understanding for good of post, surrounding community
Written by
Philip Grey
Leaf-Chronicle
Jul 19, 2012

FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — It didn’t take long for Command Sgt. Major James C. Smith to realize that his unique background would come in handy for his soldiers.

Smith is also a captain in the Clarksville Police Department, currently on a military leave of absence to serve the nation in a demanding, high visibility role as the top non-commissioned officer of the Warrior Transition Battalion on Fort Campbell, where he helps to manage recovering wounded warriors.

Almost immediately upon coming into the assignment, during a WTB Christmas party at the post USO club in 2011, Smith was talking to one of his soldiers who had suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of several close calls with explosions while deployed in combat.
read more here