Inspirational Double Amputee Marine Has Dream Wedding Day

Double-Amputee U.S. Marine Veteran Weds in Oceanside
NBC Los Angeles
By Todd Strain and Monica Garske
April 1, 2017

Veteran United States Marine Cpl. Chris Van Etten married Samantha Yovandich Saturday in the wedding of their dreams, thanks to a program called "Vows for Vets"

A United States Marine veteran who lost both of his legs while serving in Afghanistan walked down the aisle Saturday to the love of his life during a beautiful wedding ceremony in Oceanside.

Vibrant spring flowers, lace table cloths and, of course, a gorgeous white gown, filled the Paradise Falls event venue in Oceanside, all for the wedding of veteran U.S. Marine Cpl. Chris Van Etten and his bride, Samantha Yovandich.

Their wedding story is one that involves tragedy, love and generosity.

The ceremony was a gift from Paradise Falls owners Al and Cathie Ransom. Once a year, the couple helps veterans by gifting weddings to wounded warriors through a program called "Vows for Vets."
read more here

Iraq Veteran Paid Tribute to WWI Veterans

Iraq War vet pays tribute to his World War I brothers in arms
The Morning Call
Will Scheihing
April 1, 2017

The brittle, yellowed postcard shows a crowd gathered in their Sunday best for a welcome home parade honoring the husbands, sons and brothers who served in World War I. A banner strung across Pennsylvania Avenue in Pen Argyl proclaims "History will honor you always."

For Bill Casamassima, an Iraq War veteran and former high school history teacher, that sentiment became a mission.

"It was a major war," Casamassima said, postcard in hand. "I didn't want the guys to be forgotten."

That mission led him on dozens of forays into Slate Belt cemeteries to unlock the lives of the men who served in the war America entered 100 years ago this week.

In his Pen Argyl home recently, Casamassima opened a thick ring binder in which he has listed the names, gleaned from gravestones, of local men who served. Casamassima thought he would discover 70 to 80 gravestones, what he found stunned him — 703.
read more here

WWII Veteran Hero Carl Clark Passed Away

East Palo Alto: Veteran whose heroic deeds went unrecognized for six decades dead at 100
Mercury News
Jason Green
April 1, 2017

The captain “could not recognize me in the battle report because we had that vicious bigotry,” Clark said in an interview with this newspaper in 2012. He added that he was thrown in the brig, the ship’s holding cell, on two occasions for “acting like a white man.”

Carl Clark, 95, speaks after being awarded The Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with the Combat Distinguishing Device at Moffett Field in Mountain View on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. Clark, a World War II veteran, was honored Tuesday for his heroism on May, 3, 1945, when he helped save his destroyer, the USS Aaron Ward, during a kamikaze attack.

(Kirstina Sangsahachart/ Daily News)

EAST PALO ALTO — Friends, family and military personnel gathered Friday to pay tribute to the late Carl E. Clark, a U.S. Navy veteran from Menlo Park who had to wait more than 65 years for formal recognition of his heroism on the front lines of World War II.

Clark died March 16 at the Menlo Park division of the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. He was 100 years old.

Clark, an African-American, received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal at a ceremony in January 2012, six decades after he shrugged off a broken collarbone to douse fires and drag his fellow sailors to safety amidst a harrowing kamikaze attack on the USS Aaron Ward.

Although the captain personally thanked Clark, his actions were excluded from the official record.
read more here

Man Plead Guilty Burying Wife Under WWII Veteran's Grave

Colorado woman's remains found under grave of WWII veteran
Associated Press
Thomas Peipert
April 1, 2017

"For 7,826 days, 3 hours and 22 minutes, the location of Tina's remains has been a mystery," Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke said in a news release Friday.

DENVER — A Colorado man who pleaded guilty Friday to killing his estranged wife more than two decades ago recently led authorities to her body, which was buried under the grave of a World War II veteran.

John Sandoval, 52, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 1995 death of Kristina Tournai-Sandoval.

As part of a plea deal, he told investigators March 22 the remains were buried at a Greeley cemetery.
read more here

Disabled Marine Veteran Family Gets New Home After Losing Daughter to Bullies

Marine family to receive keys to new home with a heavy heart
KXAN News
By Lauren Lanmon
Published: March 31, 2017

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (KXAN) – A New Braunfels Marine and his family will be handed the keys to a new home on Monday all thanks to the Helping a Hero organization.

Master Sergeant Blaine Scott joined the Marine Corps in 1992. In 2006, during his second deployment to Iraq, Scott was severely injured in an IED blast.

“Forty percent of my body burned. I had a severe left ankle break,” said Scott.

His injures make it difficult to get around his current home, so three years ago he applied for a new one through Helping a Hero.

“We are so excited, my wife and I, we feel very fortunate for this to happen to us,” said Scott.

For years, Scott and his family have opened their home to other wounded veterans. Scott says his new home has an extra room specifically built to house veterans who are going through a tough situation. “You still find those one or two guys that have nothing wrong with them and it’s deep inside and you say ‘hey man, I’ve had these issues too, let’s talk about it,’” he said.

However, the deepest wound for Scott didn’t happen in 2006, it happened just last year. “She was being bullied in school and we didn’t realize how bad it was,” said Scott.

In August, Scott’s daughter committed suicide.
read more here