Wife killed Ga. soldier for insurance, feds say
Morris News Service
By Jan Skutch
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The wife of a slain Fort Stewart soldier schemed with her brother to kill her husband in exchange for a $160,000 insurance policy payout, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.
Lillie Eubank, 39, told investigators she arranged to have her brother, Carl Evan “Cowboy” Swain, travel from Alabama to Savannah, bought a T-ball bat and selected the site for the attack at a recreation park on Fort Stewart, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Heaps Ippolito said.
The victim, Army Spc. John Joseph Beans Eubank, 29, was found badly injured Nov. 30 by another solider. He was taken to Winn Army Community Hospital, where he died from blunt force trauma.
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Wednesday, March 5, 2014
PTSD and TBI Race Across America
TEAM INTREPID FALLEN HEROES TO RIDE IN CROSS-COUNTRY
“RACE ACROSS AMERICA” TO RAISE MONEY FOR TROOPS COMBATING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI) AND POST TRAUMATIC STRESS (PTS)
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Eight-Man Team Expected to Finish in Six Days, Raise $250,000
New York, NY (March 5, 2014) – A group of eight elite amateur and former professional athletes will ride their bicycles over 3,000 miles, coast-to-coast, in the 32nd Annual Race Across America in order to raise $250,000 for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is building a set of nine medical diagnostic and treatment centers to help wounded military heroes returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
Team Intrepid Fallen Heroes is led by Winston Fisher, Partner with the Fisher Brothersreal estate firm in New York, and Evan “Chip” Marks, Co-Founder of Sungate Asset Management LLC, a family office in New York specializing in real estate investment. The team’s manager is Jimmy Riccitello, who also will be riding for the team, is the Technical Director for Ironman and a two-time XTERRA World Champion. Other members of the team include Brian Collins, Head of Development for Fisher Brothers; Hal Goldstein, Founder of NY based architecture firm Janson Goldstein; Scott Cohen, Acquisitions and Development at Fisher Brothers; Stefan Kusurelis, Senior Project Architect for Janson Goldstein; and Dr. Robert DeStefano, one of NY’s leading sports chiropractors and ART practitioners.
The Race Across America begins on June 14th in Oceanside, CA. It is considered to be the world’s harshest endurance athletic event. The route touches 12 states, 88 counties and climbs over 170,000 vertical feet. Riders continuously propel themselves 24/7, coast-to-coast, over the Rockies and Appalachians, and through rain, wind, desert heat and possibly snow at elevations over 10,000 feet. The first team across the finish line in Annapolis, MD is considered the winner, although every team that finishes will claim its own bragging rights.
To date, the teams competing in Race Across America has raised over $4,000,000 for charities of their choosing. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes team will be racing this year to raise money to build nine medical diagnostic and treatment centers to help wounded military heroes suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). "We are just beginning to understand the trauma inflicted on the human brain by concussions caused by combat, and these centers are already doing incredible good for our military men and women,” said Winston Fisher. “We are racing for them – our service members who have already made incredible sacrifices for us and our freedom. Riding 3,000 miles on a bicycle will be nothing compared to what they have endured for us.”
The Intrepid Spirit NICoE Satellite Centers are being funded and built by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, through a $100 million fundraising campaign supported by the American public, private businesses, veterans groups and community organizations. Earlier this year, IFHF announced that it received a $500,000 donation from the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation to jumpstart the construction of the Ft. Bragg Center. As part of the donation, the Foundation pledged all funds raised through their text-to-donate line during January will be added to their original donation. Americans interested in helping to build the center are invited to support the effort by texting “Purple” to 20222 to give $10 directly to the Fort Bragg NICoE Satellite Center and the donation will be reflected on the next month’s cell phone bill.
Though the centers are being built exclusively through private donations, each center is gifted to the Department of Defense for operation and management upon completion. All the centers will be located at military installations and bases near medical facilities around the country. These convenient locations allow service members to receive TBI and PTS medical services without having to separate them from their units or leave their families for extended periods of treatment. This proximity to family and friends is expected to enhance service members’ care and rehabilitation.
The first two Intrepid Spirit Centers were opened last year at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Together they have already treated hundreds of service members, since opening their doors in July and August. A third center is currently under construction Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and is expected to be operational later this year.
Each of the NICoE Satellite Centers is 25,000 sq. ft., and cost approximately $11 million to construct and equip with the latest in brain technology and devices. The Intrepid Spirit Center at Fort Bragg is scheduled to be completed and gifted to the Department of Defense in approximately one year.
The design and mission of the Intrepid Spirit Centers are based on the original NICoE, opened in 2010 at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Operated by the Department of Defense, NICoE is the most advanced facility of its kind in the country, and is the center of the Armed Forces’ efforts in researching, diagnosing and treating TBI, PTS and related injuries and illnesses sustained by military personnel. Hundreds of American service members have received some form of diagnosis or treatment from NICoE in the past three years.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) occurs when a sudden trauma or head injury disrupts the function of the brain. Common causes of TBI include damage caused by explosive devices, falls and vehicle or motorcycle accidents. Most reported TBI among Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom service members and veterans have been traced back to Improvised Explosive Devices, or IEDs, used extensively against Coalition Forces. Symptoms can appear immediately or in the weeks and months following the injury.
About the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a national leader in supporting the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their families, has provided over $150 million in support for the families of military personnel lost in service to our nation, and for severely wounded military personnel and veterans. The Fund most recently opened the National Intrepid Center of Excellence to support the research, diagnosis, and treatment of military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). In 2013, the Fund launched a new $100 million campaign to build nine NICoE satellite centers at major military installations and bases around the country. These satellite centers will extend the care provided at NICoE to more service members and veterans suffering TBI, PTS and related afflictions.
Phoenix Detective John Hobbs' final act of bravery
Phoenix Detective John Hobbs' final act of bravery
AZ Central.com
By Megan Cassidy
March 5, 2014
Heroic. Absolutely heroic.
A colleague used those words to describe the last moments of Phoenix police Detective John Hobbs’ life.
“We’re talking about an officer who got shot and doesn’t give up the fight,” police spokesman Steve Martos said.
Already mortally wounded and with his partner down, Hobbs managed to return fire at the fugitive who’d shot him and is believed to have killed the fugitive.
It was the final act of bravery for a man who’d spent the last seven years of his 21-year career tracking down the worst of the worst violent offenders.
Hobbs, who died Monday of gunshot wounds he suffered after trying to apprehend a man on an attempted-murder warrant, was part of a unit described as one of the “special forces” of the Police Department: the Major Offenders Unit.
Another detective, a 43-year-old, nine-year veteran, was shot and underwent emergency surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. His family asked that his name not be released.
Martos said that to test into the offenders unit, an officer must have the ability to conduct surveillance and know how to track people down.
“The entire unit is motivated, and they are certainly knowledgeable and well-respected,” Martos said.
“They want to help … they want to catch the bad guys.”
And that sums up Hobbs, 43, who was married and had three young children.
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AZ Central.com
By Megan Cassidy
March 5, 2014
Heroic. Absolutely heroic.
A colleague used those words to describe the last moments of Phoenix police Detective John Hobbs’ life.
“We’re talking about an officer who got shot and doesn’t give up the fight,” police spokesman Steve Martos said.
Already mortally wounded and with his partner down, Hobbs managed to return fire at the fugitive who’d shot him and is believed to have killed the fugitive.
It was the final act of bravery for a man who’d spent the last seven years of his 21-year career tracking down the worst of the worst violent offenders.
Hobbs, who died Monday of gunshot wounds he suffered after trying to apprehend a man on an attempted-murder warrant, was part of a unit described as one of the “special forces” of the Police Department: the Major Offenders Unit.
Another detective, a 43-year-old, nine-year veteran, was shot and underwent emergency surgery at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix. His family asked that his name not be released.
Martos said that to test into the offenders unit, an officer must have the ability to conduct surveillance and know how to track people down.
“The entire unit is motivated, and they are certainly knowledgeable and well-respected,” Martos said.
“They want to help … they want to catch the bad guys.”
And that sums up Hobbs, 43, who was married and had three young children.
read more here
Marine Kyle Carpenter may get Medal of Honor
Sources: Marine Kyle Carpenter will receive MoH for heroism in Afghanistan
Army Times
Hope Hodge Seck
Staff Writer
Mar. 5, 2014
William Kyle Carpenter, a Marine Corps veteran who was severely wounded during a November 2010 grenade attack in Afghanistan, will receive the nation’s highest combat valor award later this year, Marine Corps Times has learned.
Carpenter, a 24-year-old medically retired corporal, will become the service’s third Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which date back to October 2001. The Marine Corps is finalizing plans with the White House for a ceremony in Washington, officials said.
Marine Corps Times began making inquires about the status of Carpenter’s case because the statute of limitations for Department of Navy Medal of Honor awards requires that a formal recommendation be made within three years of the combat action in question. Carpenter, the subject of two cover stories published by Marine Corps Times in 2012, also recently appeared in the national media. He was the subject of a January feature story in Reader’s Digest and a related appearance Jan. 27 on Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show.
Carpenter declined to comment on reports that he would soon receive the Medal of Honor.
read more here
Army Times
Hope Hodge Seck
Staff Writer
Mar. 5, 2014
William Kyle Carpenter, a Marine Corps veteran who was severely wounded during a November 2010 grenade attack in Afghanistan, will receive the nation’s highest combat valor award later this year, Marine Corps Times has learned.
Carpenter, a 24-year-old medically retired corporal, will become the service’s third Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which date back to October 2001. The Marine Corps is finalizing plans with the White House for a ceremony in Washington, officials said.
Marine Corps Times began making inquires about the status of Carpenter’s case because the statute of limitations for Department of Navy Medal of Honor awards requires that a formal recommendation be made within three years of the combat action in question. Carpenter, the subject of two cover stories published by Marine Corps Times in 2012, also recently appeared in the national media. He was the subject of a January feature story in Reader’s Digest and a related appearance Jan. 27 on Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show.
Carpenter declined to comment on reports that he would soon receive the Medal of Honor.
read more here
Military Mental Health Exams Fail
Military Mental Health Exams Fail
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 5, 2014
When Military Brass talks about how most of the suicides in the military had nothing to do with deployments, that should have sent a huge red flare up regarding mental health screenings. After all, if they were suffering so much they wanted to die, mental health evaluations should have discovered it. Right? After all, they should care about the mental health state of those they hand weapons to as much as they care about the soldiers serving next to them. At least that is what is we assume.
Either the military is trying to cover up for the fact suicides went up after they spent billions on preventing them or they are still trying to blame the soldiers.
This may have seemed like a new story, "Nearly 1 in 5 had mental illness before enlisting in Army, study says The study raises questions about the military's screening of recruits. Another study looks at rising suicide rates among soldiers." As it is, it is a warning that the mental health screenings done by the military are inadequate. What makes it worse is the simple fact that none of this is new.
Matthew Kauffman of the Courant reported that in 2009 along with this,
How do they explain the simple fact that this is all happening after they started addressing mental health and suicides? How do they account for the fact that the Army had over 11,000 misconduct discharges last year but the drop in suicides did not reflect enough of a drop to account for them? Then they would have to explain the number of enlisted personnel also gong down with less deployed into Afghanistan.
So much they have to account for but no one is making sure they answer for what has happened.
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 5, 2014
When Military Brass talks about how most of the suicides in the military had nothing to do with deployments, that should have sent a huge red flare up regarding mental health screenings. After all, if they were suffering so much they wanted to die, mental health evaluations should have discovered it. Right? After all, they should care about the mental health state of those they hand weapons to as much as they care about the soldiers serving next to them. At least that is what is we assume.
Either the military is trying to cover up for the fact suicides went up after they spent billions on preventing them or they are still trying to blame the soldiers.
This may have seemed like a new story, "Nearly 1 in 5 had mental illness before enlisting in Army, study says The study raises questions about the military's screening of recruits. Another study looks at rising suicide rates among soldiers." As it is, it is a warning that the mental health screenings done by the military are inadequate. What makes it worse is the simple fact that none of this is new.
"The results of this study provide strong evidence that relying on self-report alone may be insufficient policy for screening for disqualifying or significant mental health conditions," wrote Army Maj. Remington L. Nevin, the study's author.
But the report found that military health officials relied heavily on those self-reported answers, with soldiers rarely referred for a professional evaluation if they failed to acknowledge seeking mental health care.
At least 230 service members have committed suicide in Iraq and Afghanistan since the U.S. launched the first offensive eight years ago this month. As the wars continue, the study said, valid information on mental health is particularly important as the military faces challenges maintaining troop strength.
Matthew Kauffman of the Courant reported that in 2009 along with this,
The Pentagon maintains detailed electronic health information on all service members. The study released last week marked the first time military officials matched the answers on the pre-deployment form to actual medical records.
The study looked at a sample of more than 11,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 and found that 4.2 percent had been formally diagnosed in the previous year with a serious mental health disorder. But of those, only 48 percent answered "yes" to the question: "During the past year, have you sought care or counseling for your mental health?"
How do they explain the simple fact that this is all happening after they started addressing mental health and suicides? How do they account for the fact that the Army had over 11,000 misconduct discharges last year but the drop in suicides did not reflect enough of a drop to account for them? Then they would have to explain the number of enlisted personnel also gong down with less deployed into Afghanistan.
So much they have to account for but no one is making sure they answer for what has happened.
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