Vet receives new Purple Heart, other medals lost during Katrina
Posted: Aug 09, 2012
By Charles Herrington
WDAM News
Courtesy: Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center Public Affairs Office
CAMP SHELBY, MS (WDAM)
A Hattiesburg Vietnam veteran who lost his Purple Heart and other service medals in Hurricane Katrina has had them replaced, thanks to Congressman Steven Palazzo.
Navy veteran Michael Risley was presented with the Military Order of the Purple Heart at Camp Shelby Thursday morning.
He originally received the medal for wounds he suffered in Vietnam in 1968.
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Thursday, August 9, 2012
Vietnam Veteran killed saving granddaughter from thieves
Vietnam Veteran and grandfather dies saving 12-year-old granddaughter from thieves
Detroit Police are still searching for suspects
By: Kim Russell
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police are searching for the thieves who barged into a house full of children, beat a 16-year-old with a baseball bat, then shot and killed a grandfather.
“He jumped in front of a bullet for his 12-year-old granddaughter,” said Melissa Villneff, the daughter of the man killed.
She and her brother Michael Villneff describe their father as a hero. They say 62-year-old John Villneff was a Vietnam Veteran who received two Purple Hearts. He had one son, two daughters, and 12 grandchildren.
He lived next door to his daughter’s house on Rutland on the city’s west side. His adult children were out enjoying a Tigers game. His grandchildren, who are between the ages of 10 and 16 were at home together Wednesday night when young men with guns and a bat came to their home.
Relatives say the young men attacked the 16-year-old, hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. They demanded what was inside a safe at the home. They soon learned the safe contained almost nothing of value. They then stole a Wii and an Xbox.
A 12-year-old girl at the home managed to take pictures of the suspects as they committed their crime. She then ran from the home towards her grandfather’s home next door. He came out to see what was wrong. The war veteran saw armed men coming for her, covered her, and pushed her into the safety of his home as he was shot.
He died at his home.
“I didn’t get to tell him I love him,” said Michael Villneff. “He is a hero.”
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Detroit Police are still searching for suspects
By: Kim Russell
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police are searching for the thieves who barged into a house full of children, beat a 16-year-old with a baseball bat, then shot and killed a grandfather.
“He jumped in front of a bullet for his 12-year-old granddaughter,” said Melissa Villneff, the daughter of the man killed.
She and her brother Michael Villneff describe their father as a hero. They say 62-year-old John Villneff was a Vietnam Veteran who received two Purple Hearts. He had one son, two daughters, and 12 grandchildren.
He lived next door to his daughter’s house on Rutland on the city’s west side. His adult children were out enjoying a Tigers game. His grandchildren, who are between the ages of 10 and 16 were at home together Wednesday night when young men with guns and a bat came to their home.
Relatives say the young men attacked the 16-year-old, hitting him in the head with a baseball bat. They demanded what was inside a safe at the home. They soon learned the safe contained almost nothing of value. They then stole a Wii and an Xbox.
A 12-year-old girl at the home managed to take pictures of the suspects as they committed their crime. She then ran from the home towards her grandfather’s home next door. He came out to see what was wrong. The war veteran saw armed men coming for her, covered her, and pushed her into the safety of his home as he was shot.
He died at his home.
“I didn’t get to tell him I love him,” said Michael Villneff. “He is a hero.”
read more here
Some returning veterans struggle with driving
Auto anxiety: Some returning veterans struggle with driving
CBS News
By Lee Woodruff
August 9, 2012
(CBS News) Veterans have many difficulties readjusting to civilian life. Thousands of them have trouble with the simplest things, such as driving a car.
It can be a terrifying ordeal for some vets.
Former Marine Sgt. Eric Campbell has knee braces, the obvious physical evidence of his two tours of duty in Iraq. Less obvious are the psychological effects of those experiences. But they are there.
Recalling a moment from one of his tours, Campbell said, "This van started coming down the road toward our roadblocks and our translators were translating, 'Stop, stop, stop your vehicle.' We ended up firing on this van. There was a dad driving, a mother in the passenger seat, the pregnant sister of the mother, and two children. The only one that survived was the pregnant sister."
Events like that have left Campbell with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. After fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom he's lost some of his own. Anxiety has made it impossible for him to drive. "I would hit potholes and it would throw me into a flashback."
Campbell and his fiancee Amy live 20 miles outside of Fresno, Calif., in a tiny trailer they share with her three kids and two of his own. His inability to drive puts an increased burden on her, and makes a difficult situation, worse.
Campbell is one of more than 200,000 vets who've sought treatment for PTSD. Roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan made driving treacherous in those war zones and back home veterans have to navigate a new set of hazards.
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CBS News
By Lee Woodruff
August 9, 2012
(CBS News) Veterans have many difficulties readjusting to civilian life. Thousands of them have trouble with the simplest things, such as driving a car.
It can be a terrifying ordeal for some vets.
Former Marine Sgt. Eric Campbell has knee braces, the obvious physical evidence of his two tours of duty in Iraq. Less obvious are the psychological effects of those experiences. But they are there.
Recalling a moment from one of his tours, Campbell said, "This van started coming down the road toward our roadblocks and our translators were translating, 'Stop, stop, stop your vehicle.' We ended up firing on this van. There was a dad driving, a mother in the passenger seat, the pregnant sister of the mother, and two children. The only one that survived was the pregnant sister."
Events like that have left Campbell with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. After fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom he's lost some of his own. Anxiety has made it impossible for him to drive. "I would hit potholes and it would throw me into a flashback."
Campbell and his fiancee Amy live 20 miles outside of Fresno, Calif., in a tiny trailer they share with her three kids and two of his own. His inability to drive puts an increased burden on her, and makes a difficult situation, worse.
Campbell is one of more than 200,000 vets who've sought treatment for PTSD. Roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan made driving treacherous in those war zones and back home veterans have to navigate a new set of hazards.
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Social media creates spokesmen at Camp Lejeune
Social media creates spokesmen
August 9, 2012
Camp Lejeune Globe
Lance Cpl. Jackeline M. Perez Rivera
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marines use social media the same way everybody else does, said Sgt. Mark Fayloga, Headquarters Marine Corps head of Social Media. Through Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Hi5, MySpace, Flickr, Reddit and many more, Marines connect and interact with people and ideas across a wide variety of avenues.
Social media gives people numerous ways to share any detail of their lives. The military community has used those resources to blog about their wartime experiences. YouTube videos have landed Marines dates and brought smiles back home through groups’ renditions of popular songs matched to complicated choreography.
Questions can be posted and answered by not only everyone in the Marines’ social network, but their friends’ social networks as well. They can find people willing to share their experience about a duty station, a job or a temporary additional billet such as recruiter or Drill Instructor.
“(With social media) you can be the voice of the Marine Corps,” said Fayloga. “You can share your story.”
Social media can serve as a soapbox to present information and opinions, or it can provide an interactive experience to can help clarify misinformation.
However, it’s very important to cite sources, said Capt. Joshua Smith, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer of Marine Corps Installation East – Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Without proper citation it’s just an opinion, he added.
Social media can also make anyone a micro-journalist, said Smith.
read more here
August 9, 2012
Camp Lejeune Globe
Lance Cpl. Jackeline M. Perez Rivera
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marines use social media the same way everybody else does, said Sgt. Mark Fayloga, Headquarters Marine Corps head of Social Media. Through Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Hi5, MySpace, Flickr, Reddit and many more, Marines connect and interact with people and ideas across a wide variety of avenues.
Social media gives people numerous ways to share any detail of their lives. The military community has used those resources to blog about their wartime experiences. YouTube videos have landed Marines dates and brought smiles back home through groups’ renditions of popular songs matched to complicated choreography.
Questions can be posted and answered by not only everyone in the Marines’ social network, but their friends’ social networks as well. They can find people willing to share their experience about a duty station, a job or a temporary additional billet such as recruiter or Drill Instructor.
“(With social media) you can be the voice of the Marine Corps,” said Fayloga. “You can share your story.”
Social media can serve as a soapbox to present information and opinions, or it can provide an interactive experience to can help clarify misinformation.
However, it’s very important to cite sources, said Capt. Joshua Smith, the Deputy Public Affairs Officer of Marine Corps Installation East – Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Without proper citation it’s just an opinion, he added.
Social media can also make anyone a micro-journalist, said Smith.
read more here
Combat Medic listed as AWOL turned himself in
Army Specialist Catalino Rodriguez of Aberdeen, Md.,Turns Himself In After Being AWOL For Two Years
Written by
Surae Chinn
WUSA9.com
Aug 9, 2012
BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- An Aberdeen, Maryland soldier who went AWOL (Away Without Leave) two years ago has decided to turn himself in.
Army Specialist Catalino Rodriguez says he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD and major depression. He has emerged from hiding in his mother's basement.
"It's a nightmare. A two year nightmare. I don't want to do this anymore," he said.
He said he fell into a dark place after a 15 month deployment as a combat medic in Iraq.
He further spiraled into mental illness when he learned he would be deployed to Afghanistan.
"I felt the demons that were in my head," he said. "I felt I was not prepared to go to Afghanistan. Being a medic, I was fearful of my personal demons getting in the way in how I would treat a battle buddy."
He sought help, but he says the military's solution only masked the problem.
"The only thing they gave me was medication, medication, medication," Rodriquez said.
read more here
Written by
Surae Chinn
WUSA9.com
Aug 9, 2012
BETHESDA, Md. (WUSA) -- An Aberdeen, Maryland soldier who went AWOL (Away Without Leave) two years ago has decided to turn himself in.
Army Specialist Catalino Rodriguez says he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD and major depression. He has emerged from hiding in his mother's basement.
"It's a nightmare. A two year nightmare. I don't want to do this anymore," he said.
He said he fell into a dark place after a 15 month deployment as a combat medic in Iraq.
He further spiraled into mental illness when he learned he would be deployed to Afghanistan.
"I felt the demons that were in my head," he said. "I felt I was not prepared to go to Afghanistan. Being a medic, I was fearful of my personal demons getting in the way in how I would treat a battle buddy."
He sought help, but he says the military's solution only masked the problem.
"The only thing they gave me was medication, medication, medication," Rodriquez said.
read more here
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