Terrific article in the Army Times of Jase Brostrom, son of 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, an Army Ranger who was killed in Afghanistan last year, receiving the Hawaii Medal of Honor. Hawaii awarded 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom with the honor in March but Jase and his mother weren’t at the ceremony because they live in Utah.
Jase received his father’s Hawaii Medal of Honor during a special ceremony in Gov. Linda Lingle’s office which was made possible by the Hawaii state legislature. Maj. General Robert Lee represented the U.S. Army at the ceremony.
Read about Jase Brostrom and the award ceremony at the Army Times.
While surfing the news feeds two days ago, I ran across a site that listed several articles chronicling the sometimes inadequate support being offered to our women veterans. There’s a lot to read and consider here…
I think that everyone will agree that our veterans, both men and women alike, deserve our respect, appreciation, and help when they have difficulties adjusting to civilian life. Not a single vet should feel alone or “lost” when they come home. If you do nothing else just be a friend, lend them an ear or a shoulder. These men and women have given years of their lives to protect our freedom and liberties – what have you done that equals their sacrifice?
The Site: Updated Frequently
Article 1: Female vets face homelessness, dearth of services
Article 2: Back from combat, women struggle for acceptance
Article 3: VA clinics transform as more women join ranks
The Veterans for Common Sense, a watchdog group dedicated to health care issues for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, say that the proposed $109B VA budget is not enough. The groups executive director, Pat Sullivan contends that the budget may fall short by as much as 45 percent due to the added costs of treating veterans of the two ongoing operations.
Mr. Sullivan points to VA reports that show increases in veterans seeking medical care. Last year the VA provided care to 480,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans by the end of July and that number is certain to have risen since then. In the past three months the VA reported that an average of 289 additional veterans sought care at their facilities. If this trend continues the VA could see up to 610,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in 2010.
The proposed budget would support 419,000 of these veterans.
For additional information see AirForceTimes.
Col. Van T. Barfoot (ret.) honorably served our country through three wars, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. He has received a Purple Heart, Medal of Honor and other decorations for his valiant actions. Today he has won another battle, the battle to fly the flag of the United States of America, the Stars and Stripes in front of his home.
Col. Barfoot lives in a Sussex Square housing development in Henrico County, Virginia. He also lives in a development governed by a homeowners’ association – and this is where the battle began. It appears that the association didn’t like Col. Barfoot’s 21-foot flagpole… it violated their aesthetic guidelines. They prefer flags to be flown from poles attached to the home and wanted the flagpole removed or else they would take Col. Barfoot to court.
As the Colonel’s story came to public attention, his cause was joined by Senator Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb, both of Virginia. Even White House press secretary Robert Gibbs commented on the situation as being “silly.”
All of this negative publicity has caused Col. Barfoot’s homeowner’s association to drop their request to remove the flagpole.
Col. Barfoot has won another victory, and this time he didn’t have to travel half-way around the world to do it.
To read more about Col. Van T. Barfoot go to this FOXNews story.
Two of the three Navy SEALs accused of assaulting a captured Iraqi terrorist have been arraigned in a military court. The third accused SEAL will be arraigned at a later date.
The judge has scheduled courts-martial next month for Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe of Perrysburg, Ohio, and Petty Officer 1st Class Julio Huertas of Blue Island, Ill.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault. Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement. Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.
The accuser, Ahmed Hashim Abed is the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. He partially alleges that as part of his capture the SEALs struck him in the midsection and also gave him a bloody lip.
To date the SEALs have received massive public support on the Internet (45,000 people have signed a Facebook page supporting the SEALs) and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California has written Defense Secretary Robert Gates to intervene. Approximately three dozen protesters stood outside the Norfolk Naval Station gate Monday morning holding signs of support.
The SEALs could have accepted a nonjudicial reprimand for this alleged incident but a reprimand could have resulted in a loss of rank. If they are convicted at trial however, they could get up to a year in jail, a bad conduct discharge, or a loss of rank or pay.
For more information on this story see FOXNews, ABC News, or BBC News.
