101st Soldier Rescues Child Forgotten in Hot Car

101st soldier, Woodlawn firefighter saves infant in Texas
Leaf Chronicle
Ayrika L. Whitney
September 2, 2016

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Staff Sgt. James Munns is a combat medic for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (Rakkasans), 101st Airborne Division and a firefighter with the Woodlawn Volunteer Fire Service, providing him with intense and thorough training and experience.

Training and experience that proved to be invaluable in San Antonio on Aug. 11 — and may have even saved a life.

Munns was about to leave the city after training and needed to purchase a new phone before the flight home later that day.

About half an hour into his visit to the Verizon store, two women rushed into the store and Munns noticed they were visibly distraught, one holding a baby.

One of the women forgot the child in the car in the extreme Texan heat. The high for the day was 100 degrees according to the National Weather Service's weather records.

"The baby was bright red, is visibly not doing well," said Munns.

He realized nobody, including the women were trained to handle the situation, and his training kicked in.

"For a lot of medics, it's like a switch goes off, and you just do your job," Munns stated. "You stop what you are doing and you do your job."
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Is Prince Harry Wrong on PTSD Medal?

Prince Harry is wrong to back call for all wounded troops to get new medal
Mirror UK
Rachael Bletchly
September 3, 2016

Rachael Bletchly writes for the Sunday People that, instead of gongs, our wounded deserve the best ­possible support when they leave the forces – medical and social care, housing and jobs

So a “wounded warrior” medal would surely be highlighting victimhood rather than extraordinary heroism.

Prince Harry is a champion of wounded troops

Since leaving the Army after ten years’ service Prince Harry has proved to be an admirable champion of our wounded ­military personnel.

His Invictus Games are inspiring, showing what servicemen and women can achieve despite appalling injuries.

And he’s joined forces with Michelle Obama and ex-President George Bush to highlight the ­hidden scars of post-traumatic stress disorder.

But now Harry is ­backing calls for ALL British troops who are wounded in action to be awarded a special medal, like the US Purple Heart.

Here in Blighty, cases of PTSD ­continue to rise – and the charity Combat Stress is worried.

Its medical director said recently: “It’s the tip of the iceberg. And if it is a big iceberg, we are going to be overwhelmed. We need funds, we need help, from any direction.”

So before we start handing out medals to our wounded warriors, let’s ­concentrate on helping those whose wounds still need tending.

Isn’t that a better way to honour them?
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82nd Airborne Soldiers Climbed Denali Remembering Friends Lost and Hope Found

Soldier climbs Denali for suicide awareness, proposes to girlfriend
DVIDS
DENALI, AK, UNITED STATES
Story by John Budnik
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District
09.02.2016

While visibly humble, Austria explained his personal encounters with suicide. Both his best friend and a fellow Soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division committed suicide.

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON – Blistering snowstorms, excruciating work hauling gear and possible death might not sound like an ideal summer vacation for most. If you are a mountaineer, then the experience is a paradise.

Courtesy Photo | Capt. Stephen Austria, project engineer in the USACE-Alaska District’s Foreign Military Sales Program, and fiancé and climbing partner, Rebecca Melesciuc, take a break from descending Denali, the tallest peak in North America, for a photo. Austria and Melesciuc climbed Denali this past summer to help raise Soldier suicide awareness.

For Capt. Stephen Austria, project engineer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District’s Foreign Military Sales Program, a mid-June, non-guided expedition climbing Denali, formerly known as Mount McKinley, was a dream come true for him and girlfriend, Rebecca Melesciuc, and one he hopes brings awareness to Soldier suicide.

“Denali is the highest mountain in North America,” Austria said of the 20,310-feet peak. “Not many people want to do things like that. It is cool to say I have climbed it.”

While visibly humble, Austria explained his personal encounters with suicide. Both his best friend and a fellow Soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division committed suicide. He also knew several others in a previous unit who took their own lives. To honor those Soldiers, he carried an American flag on the majestic mountain that was with him on every mission while deployed to Iraq.

“It is a bigger issue than what some people make it out to be,” he said. “I climbed for veterans in general, too. It is a unique family that we are a part of.”
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Wife Fights For Justice As Air Force Veteran Sits in Jail

'I can't be silent any longer' - Wife of veteran fights for husband's release
North West Florida News
Kelly Humphrey
September 3, 2016

A medical board issued him an honor-able discharge after four years and 10 months of service. The loss of his military career devastated him, Angela said, and he would later be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

“He attempted suicide shortly after that,” she said. “It broke his heart to be out of the Air Force.”

At 9:18 a.m. on April 9, 2015, Aaron Wanless sent an email to his psychiatrist’s office at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs clinic at Eglin Air Force Base.

“This medication is killing me,” he wrote. “My brain is malfunctioning.”

At the moment he sent the message, the 35-year-old Air Force veteran was a fugitive, having spent the previous night eluding sheriff’s deputies following an armed altercation at his father’s house.

Shortly after sending the email, Aaron surrendered and was taken to jail, where he has remained for 17 months without bond as his case winds it way through the judicial system.

Aaron had confided in Angela when they first met that he’d experienced depression. She and Melendez attribute it to a serious motorcycle accident he had while stationed at Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach in 2001.

“Several bones in his lower leg were shattered,” Melendez wrote. “For a while, doctors thought they may have to amputate his leg. Aaron was in rehab for months.”

Although he would go on to serve with his Air Force unit at ground zero in New York following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, by 2002 the military decided he was no longer fit for service.
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10th Anniversary of Operation Medusa Remembered by PTSD Veteran

Canadian soldier writes song for 10th anniversary of Operation Medusa
CTV News Canada
Taline McPhedran
September 3, 2016

The song, and journal entry, goes on to describe the attack happening in the same place that saw four other Canadian soldiers killed a month before. It then describes a British plane that went down while flying reconnaissance, killing all 12 British soldiers on board.

To acknowledge the 10th anniversary of Operation Medusa that saw 15 Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan, a soldier who fought in the battle has released a song called Panjwai.

Capt. Ryan Carey decided to write the song as a way to deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and to deal with what he witnessed in the conflict. The song goes through a retelling of his experiences during the operation to take back the Panjwai district from the Taliban.

The song starts with the crossing of the Arghandab River and the following bombardment that left four Canadian soldiers dead. The Taliban were ready for them, and dug in for a fight.

“We drove into a heavily fortified defensive position… we drove into the kill zone,” Carey told CTV News.
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