Thursday, April 5, 2018

17 Medal of Honor Escorted in Texas

Medal of Honor recipients welcomed with motorcade, hundreds of spectators in Texas
FOX News
By Travis Fedschun
April 5, 2018
A motorcade along a Texas interstate to escort 17 Medal of Honor recipients on Wednesday drew hundreds of participants and spectators to honor the special guests.
The city of Gainesville, located 70 miles north of Dallas, has hosted the Medal of Honor Host City Program since 2001 to "provide residents with a more interactive connection with America’s history, the military and the veteran community."

In the years since founding the program, almost half of the nation’s Medal of Honor Recipients have attended the special weekend to honor their service.

This year's group arrived Wednesday at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and were escorted by Patriot Guard riders and law enforcement up to Gainesville ahead of this weekend’s ceremonies. Crowds of onlookers stood atop overpasses and alongside the highway to watch them pass.
read more here

Days before wedding, Navy Corpsman saved life

Navy Corpsman likely saved life of Calif. football player hit by car
USA TODAY
By: Tim Whelan Jr.
High School Sports
April 4, 2018
“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world than there in that moment. I’m glad I was there,” Bustos told KNSD.


Family members are identifying the freshman football player hit by a car Monday night.

They say 16-year-old Maddox Sanders, a Granite Hills (El Cajon, Calif.) freshman, was crossing a street in El Cajon, Calif., at around 8 p.m. when it happened.

The victim’s brother, Brandon Sanders, told San Diego’s KNSD-TV that Maddox is in critical care but stable condition at a nearby hospital.

As KNSD tells it, the fast action of U.S. Navy Corpsman Emily Bustos may have been key to Sanders’ survival. One of the first people to reach him as he laid in the street, she performed CPR until the ambulance arrived.

Bustos was on leave from the Navy and was less than 24 hours away from departing for her own wedding in Hawaii.
read more here

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Veterans are not worth keeping promises to?

 POTUS giant "F" you to veterans
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
April 4, 2018

I was actually terrified of Donald Trump becoming President. Not for the reasons most people had. It was for the same reason I was terrified that John McCain would become elected to the office. 

When I was growing up, my Mom asked me how many battles I was fighting. Then she asked me how many I was winning. When I said I lost all of them, she gave me a wise piece of advice. "Pick on and stick with it!" My battle has been for veterans. After all, I am the daughter of a Korean War veteran, niece of WWII veterans and wife of Vietnam veteran.

The VA has been part of my life, all my life. I have seen the best it can do and the problems that come because Congress has consistently failed to live up to their end of the deal on men and women risking their lives in the military. Yes, I blame Congress. That is why when I hear someone wanting to hold the office of Commander-in-Chief utter the words "privatization of the VA" my heart stops!

Think about it. Who the hell would proudly say they regard veterans just like every other civilian? After all, isn't that what they are actually saying? 

I guess it is suddenly nothing to be ashamed of. The same folks we elected, managed to screw up our healthcare, and now these same folks, who allowed the VA to be trashed, have the audacity to even suggest veterans should be treated like everyone else?

Members of Congress have had the authority over how are veterans are treated since 1946! Any problems veterans still have are directly THEIR FAULT~ but they fail to offer a single apology for what they have done. 

Did he forget they got disabled serving this country in the military?

"Dubbed the Caring for Our Veterans Act, the bill eliminates requirements that veterans must have waited longer than 30 days for an appointment or live farther than 40 miles from a VA facility to seek private care. Instead, it opens that door directly if veterans and their providers decide together that community care is the best option."
And now you will know why!
"So why hasn't the measure become law? The bill lacks backing from the Koch-backed group Concerned Veterans for America — which has lobbied hard against it — and, perhaps for similar reasons, the White House. Advocates had hoped to get the bill included in the massive spending measure Congress passed last month, but in the end didn't succeed."
That came from the Washington Post!

The VA is a government operation and has plenty of money. I guess these folks think it is OK to kill off the VA no matter how many veterans get hurt in the process. It must be OK to slap them in the face and then expect them to say "thank you" instead of another word that starts with "F" you! Sorry but I'm thinking "forget" and not the other word...hmm, on second thought.

Now maybe you'll know why I am so angry in a show that was recorded last week before the Secretary of the VA was dumped on Twitter. You can hear it on KLRN Remember the Fallen with one of my buddies Sgt. Dave. We had a lot to cover but, well, lets just say I was not in a good mood about any of this. It is on at 8:00 Thursday.

In a way I am glad it was recorded before this happened. I think I'd get bleeped out way too much if we recorded it this week.

Stolen Valor: Topped off applying for job with city of St. Lucie?

Florida man passes himself off as decorated war veteran to land job, police say
Local10.com
By Peter Burke - Managing Editor
April 4, 2018
Edward Liroff, 46, arrested after real veteran notices discrepancies on form

Among the discrepancies Byrne noted were that the Distinguished Service Medal was only awarded to four U.S. Army soldiers between 1983 and 2013 -- Liroff was not among them -- and that his Silver Star Medal was spelled incorrectly.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A Florida man who passed himself off as a war hero and applied for a job with the city of Port St. Lucie was arrested after it was discovered that he never served in the military, police said.

Edward Liroff, 46, was arrested Tuesday on felony charges of fraudulently obtaining a Florida driver's license, uttering a forged instrument and unlawful use of uniforms, medals or insignia.
read more here

Kevin Williams fought in war, in the ring but lost battle within

Suicide tragedy of Iraq war hero: Soldier struggled with PTSD after his time in the army
Daily Star UK
Ross Kanluk
April 4, 2018
“Returning to civilian life was a big shock. The skills I learnt, especially being in the infantry, were all combat-based, but civilian life doesn’t have any combat.”

SPORTY: Kevin had been a keen boxer before joining the Royal Green Jackets

Kevin Williams was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a comrade was killed.

He was then discharged after failing a drugs test when he was 22.

Keen boxer Kevin, who joined the Royal Green Jackets at 16, found it difficult to adapt to civilian life and ended up homeless.

In a documentary recorded before his death aged 29, he said: “Not long after coming back from Iraq I just felt sad all the time.

“I lost a friend out there and I didn’t really grieve till I got back.
read more here