Family members charged with murder of Maj. Chester Garrett

Mother, Son Held in 1977 Fort Bliss Slaying
Apr 02, 2013
El Paso Times, Texas
by Adriana M. Chavez

EL PASO, Texas -- The wife and stepson of a decorated Army officer killed in 1977 have been formally charged with causing his death.

An autopsy found that Chester Garrett, an Army Special Forces officer and a Green Beret, had a fractured skull, severe brain contusions and numerous stab wounds. He may have been already dead or unconscious when stabbed.

Court records show a state district court grand jury indicted Roger Evan Garrett, 54, and his mother, Lisbeth Ann Garrett, 74, on murder charges in the Jan. 3, 1977, slaying of Maj. Chester Garrett, whose body was found in a desert area in East El Paso County.

Last month, Roger Garrett was extradited from Knoxville, Tenn., where he had been living, to El Paso. Both Roger and Lisbeth Garrett remain in the El Paso County Jail on bonds of $1 million each. The bond amounts were reduced from $5 million during a recent bond hearing.

Cheri Ellington, Chester Garrett's oldest sister, expressed joy after hearing the news of the indictments. However, she said she was also disappointed that the bond amounts for Roger and Lisbeth Garrett were reduced because she fears Roger Garrett will try to skip his court appearances.
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Women veterans honored at Chicago VA, ABC dishonored with lousy story

Opened my email this morning with a link to a story I thought would be great. "Women vets honored at VA Hospital" sounded like a great thing to do until I saw the story was 95 words long including the title, date and the copyright saying WLS reserved all rights,,,,,they can keep all of 95 words they decided this story and women veterans being honored equaled. I think the whole thing could almost fit on a Tweet.

Sister War Fighters Double Up in Afghanistan

After two year separation, soldier twins reunite in Afghanistan
Apr 1, 2013
Written by
Spc. Brian Smith-Dutton
Task Force 3/101 Public Affairs

Army Spc. Janice Pagan (left) of Forward Support Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team 'Rakkasans,' 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and her twin sister Army Spc. Janet Pagan (right) of 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion shop for perfume together at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, during a 3-day pass that reunited them after two years apart. / US ARMY/SPC. BRIAN SMITH-DUTTON

PAKTIYA PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN — Military service has long been, and still is, a family affair, and the Pagan twins are yet another example.

However, service in different units and places, especially in a war zone, can often keep family members apart for extended periods.

Thus, when U.S. Army Spc. Janice Pagan was granted a 3-day pass to reunite with her twin sister at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, it was a cause for celebration.

“I am very excited to see my sister,” said Janice, an automated logistical specialist assigned to Forward Support Company, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team “Rakkasans,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

“After telling my family what is going to happen they are very happy as well.”

The twins have not been able to come together in more than two years due to being in different units within the Army.
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Gulf War Veteran's body found in car, 4 months after he died

Body of former soldier, 42, lay in van parked at pub for FOUR MONTHS
Paul O'Brien, 42, found in vehicle after it was finally towed by council
Fought in first Gulf War and served two tours of Northern Ireland
Pub landlady made repeated calls to police to have van removed
Daily Mail
By SIMON TOMLINSON
1 April 2013

The body of a former soldier lay undiscovered in a van parked at a pub for four months despite attempts by the landlord to have the vehicle removed.

Paul O'Brien, from Cambridge, who fought in the first Gulf War and served two tours in Northern Ireland, was found in the back of the vehicle after it was towed away by the council.

The 42-year-old, who once carried the body of his best friend for five miles after he was killed on a reconnaissance mission in Southern Ireland, has been described as a 'kind man.' The maroon van had been parked at the Lazy Otter pub car park, near Stretham in the Cambridgeshire Fens from late October until the end of February.

But despite repeated calls from the owner of the pub to the police, no one came to look at it.

'It was a total shock for all of us to learn that his body had been in the van all that time and very tragic,' said Annette Gwinnett, owner of the Lazy Otter.
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Longer Wait For Disability Benefits In VA Secretary's Home State

While veterans know the care they get depends on what state they live in, the average American has no clue. Simply assuming this one nation treats all veterans the same is part of the reason they have suffered this long. The other factor is too many reporters take the narrow view. They report in lumps based on what they are told today completely forgetting about what they reported last year. When we're talking about this many years of war fighters coming home, especially National Guardsmen and Reservist, we've had plenty of time to get it right but expected the to wait plenty of time to get the care they were promised.

While the following report is out of Honolulu, you can read what states do a better job on this interactive map from Center for Investigative Reporting. Map: Where is the veterans' backlog the worst?

Longer Wait For Disability Benefits In VA Secretary's Home State
Honolulu Civil Beat
By Kery Murakami
04/01/2013

Although the federal Veterans Administration has been taking heat nationally for a growing backlog and increased times to process disabled veterans benefits, the office in VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s home state of Hawaii has been doing particularly poorly in processing claims in a timely manner.

And despite promises to improve its performance, agency data examined by Civil Beat, shows that in the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Honolulu office, veterans are waiting months longer and the backlog of disability claims has gotten significantly worse than a year ago.

In January, the latest period for which figures were available, 70 percent of compensation disability claims nationally had been pending longer than the goal of 125 days. That’s brought protests from veterans groups and criticism from Congress. However, the backlog was worse in the Honolulu office, where 77 percent of those claims had been pending longer than the 125 days.

The backlog of cases in Honolulu has grown since January 2012, when 69.4 percent of similar claims had been pending for that long.

It was also taking longer in the Honolulu office than the average nationally to process disability claims that require an assessment of the severity of a disability. Nationally, it took the VA an average of 279 days to complete such claims. It the Honolulu office, it took almost four months longer — an average of 390.2 days.
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UPDATE out of Nashville

Nashville VA office failures cited in report
Nashville staffers did not properly serve veterans in 4 of 5 areas, inspection finds
The Tennessean
Apr 1, 2013
One veteran lost $10,000 in disability benefits.

Others underwent incomplete evaluations for traumatic brain injury.

Homeless veterans went without help because no one tried to find them.

These are the service failures highlighted in a report issued last week by the Office of Inspector General that determined the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville came up short on four of five measures. The report was based on an inspection conducted in September. Edna MacDonald, the director of the Nashville office, did not dispute the findings and submitted a checklist for correcting the problems.

However, a spokeswoman noted that the report is not a comprehensive evaluation. The Nashville regional office, which has jurisdiction over VA services in the entire state, has an overall 91.2 percent accuracy record for rating claims, said public affairs officer Jan Dew.
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