21-Gun Salute For Iraq Veteran-Belgian Malinois

Bomb-sniffing military dog who served in Iraq gets 21-gun salute
Miami Herald
Karla Ward
September 11, 2016

NICHOLASVILLE, KY
The memorial service had all the somber trappings of the many other military funerals held at Camp Nelson National Cemetery through the years: a lone trumpeter playing taps, the presentation of the flag to the family, a crowd of tearful mourners, a horse-drawn caisson, cannon fire and a 21-gun salute.

But the veteran who was being honored beneath the pavilion Saturday afternoon was unlike any who had been honored at the cemetery before.

The deceased was Iireland, 13, a military working dog who served two tours in Iraq sniffing out explosive devices.

Though Iireland is buried on a farm, the public memorial service for the female Belgian Malinois who died in August was the first of its kind at the cemetery.
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Iraq Veteran Learns to Walk Again and Then Brew Ale

Wounded in Iraq, veteran starts over again at Flagship Brewing Co.
Staten Island Advance
Lauren Steussy
September 12, 2016

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If you want to know what a country looks like 15 years after a terrorist attack, you could look inside a certain kettle of boiling pre-fermented beer — changing, restoring and improving with time.

This past weekend, Marine veteran Ray Sumner brewed a Georgia Peach Ale at Flagship Brewing Co. There, in Tompkinsville, he's doing his time as a 54-year-old intern, embarking on a third career in the beer industry.

It's the completion of a life's trajectory, which started when the Staten Island native saw the smoke and ashes rise out of lower Manhattan from St. George. Two years after the September 11 attacks, he got "the call that no Marine can resist."

Sumner didn't have much of choice at first. In 2005, his platoon was clearing insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, when he was shot in the hip. The bullet severed an artery in his leg and landed him in a coma for 10 days.

His sergeant was among the nearly 50 killed and 450 wounded in his unit, which took on the most casualties of any other unit in the war. It took Sumner two years to learn how to walk again.
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Rolling Stone Forgets How Long Other Generations Waited For Memorials

Iraq War Veteran Reflects on the Ground Zero Mall
On the failed efforts to build a Global War on Terror memorial, while a shopping mall is built at the 9/11 site
Roling Stone
By Scott Beauchamp
September 9, 2016

The primary reason no GWOT monument yet exists is that, per the Commemorative Works Act of 1997, combat must have ended a decade before work on a memorial can begin. The Global War on Terror continues unabated. How are we supposed to "remember" wars that might never end?

A grand opening event at the Westfield World Trade Center mall in August. Cindy Ord/Getty

Last month, nearly 15 years after September 11th, a mall opened at Ground Zero. The Westfield World Trade Center is aggressively ordinary, despite resting on the site of the nation's most memorable and deadly terrorist attack. As The New York Times notes, "there is little to suggest that [the mall] occupies consecrated ground ... this mall could be just about anywhere." Walking the pristine marble floors of the concourse, past stores like Apple, Sephora and Kate Spade, there's no indication that the soil underfoot might contain debris from the first foreign attack on American territory in two generations.

A nearby museum and memorial officially commemorate those who died in the World Trade Center attacks, underscoring the absurdity of the mall's presence there. The juxtaposition of the memorial and the shopping mall gestures at America's complex attitude toward commemorating wars and tragedies.

As a veteran of the Global War on Terror who deployed twice to Iraq as an infantryman, there's no permanent federal monument where I can publicly mourn and remember. As important as the country's various 9/11 memorials are, they're memorials to civilian victims of terrorism, not members of the military. There is no official government monument recognizing the casualties of what some have taken to calling the Long War.
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If you really want to honor anyone, it would be a good time to refresh history of what already happened. Reminder, it is not the longest war. Vietnam still is at just under 20 years. First name on The Wall is "The first American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Air Force T-Sgt. Richard B. Fitzgibbon Jr. He is listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having a casualty date of June 8, 1956." and the last killed ""The ‘Mayaguez Incident’ The battle on Koh Tang occurred on May 15, 1975."

Gulf War "While Feb. 28, 2016, marked the official anniversary of the cease-fire that ended the war 25 years ago, no special celebrations were held on the day, a disappointment several war veterans fumed over." 


And this is how long it took for the Vietnam Memorial Wall to be built. "The Memorial (wall) was completed in late October and dedicated on November 13, 1982."

Korean War ended in 1953. It was dedicated on July 27, 1995 

 WWII ended in 1945. The memorial opened to the public on April 29, 2004

Fort Hood Soldier Died in Motorcycle Crash Fleeing Police

Fort Hood soldier dies after motorcycle crash
KWTX News
September 10, 2016

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) Killeen Police said a Fort Hood soldier has died after he crashed his motorcycle fleeing from police.

He has been identified as 20-year-old Stacy Hardy.

Around 10 p.m. Friday night, Killeen Police officers tried to pull over Hardy for speeding while riding a Suzuki motorcycle near Elms Road and Fort Hood Street.

The driver continued to flee from police at over 100 miles per hour. Police said the officers were led on a pursuit, but were forced to slow down because of heavy traffic and they "saw the motorcycle driving recklessly between vehicles that were stopped."
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Retired Marine Chaplain Walking From New York to Merritt Island

Marine Corps veteran to walk from New York City to Merritt Island
FLORIDA TODAY
R. Norman Moody
September 9, 2016

"When I walk I can't stop walking. When people know that you walk they want to join you. I don't make excuses, I just walk. I trust God."

Rev. Danny Garcia begins his walk Sunday from New York City

(Photo: R. Norman Moody / FLORIDA TODAY)

Retired Marine Sgt. Danny Garcia started walking long-distance to heal from personal difficulties.

Many years later and thousands of miles of walking for causes in various countries around the world, he is beginning a new long distance trek: Many Steps for Many Vets 2016 Walk, from Sept. 11 to Nov. 11.

At age 71, the Melbourne resident is taking on a 1,450-mile trek beginning Sunday from near the site of the 9/11 memorial near Liberty and Greenwich streets in New York City, with the goal of reaching the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center on Veterans Day, Nov.11.

On that day, the center will hold its Veterans Day ceremony and the grand opening of its expanded museum and the adjacent 82-acre veterans park.

"This walk is not a game," he said. "This walk is not a marathon. Our country is bleeding right now. Yes, the walk is for our veterans, but it is also for our country."
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