In Memoriam

[Grace]

From the ARMY TIMES -

18 veterans commit suicide each day
By Rick Maze - Staff writer Posted : Saturday Apr 24, 2010 9:27:34 EDT

Troubling new data show there are an average of 950 suicide attempts each month by veterans who are receiving some type of treatment from the Veterans Affairs Department.

Seven percent of the attempts are successful, and 11 percent of those who don’t succeed on the first attempt try again within nine months.
The numbers, which come at a time when VA is strengthening its suicide prevention programs, show about 18 veteran suicides a day, about five by veterans who are receiving VA care.

Access to care appears to be a key factor, officials said, noting that once a veteran is inside the VA care program, screening programs are in place to identify those with problems, and special efforts are made to track those considered at high risk, such as monitoring whether they are keeping appointments.

A key part of the new data shows the suicide rate is lower for veterans aged 18 to 29 who are using VA health care services than those who are not. That leads VA officials to believe that about 250 lives have been saved each year as a result of VA treatment.

VA’s suicide hotline has been receiving about 10,000 calls a month from current and former service members. The number is 1-800-273-8255. Service members and veterans should push 1 for veterans’ services.

Dr. Janet Kemp, VA’s national suicide prevention coordinator, credits the hotline with rescuing 7,000 veterans who were in the act of suicide — in addition to referrals, counseling and other help.

Suicide attempts by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans remains a key area of concern. In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, there were 1,621 suicide attempts by men and 247 by women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, with 94 men and four women dying.

In general, VA officials said, women attempt suicide more often, but men are more likely to succeed in the attempt, mainly because women use less lethal and less violent means while men are more likely to use firearms.

Suicide attempts among veterans appear to follow those trends, officials said.

[wombat2u2004]

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the RSL,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew where of he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For ol' Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a Soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife..
For he lived an ordinary,
Very quiet sort of life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing,
'Tho a Soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a Soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Some jerk who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It's so easy to forget them,
For it is so many times
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days..

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

[Grace]

28 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Thomas E. Rivers Jr., 22, of Birmingham, Ala., died April 28 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

[Grace]

NBC news showed some of the service from Arlington last evening. The remains were buried in one casket, and the widow of one of the men was present for the burial.

September 1, 1944

U.S. Airmen MIA from WWII are Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of eight U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have been accounted-for and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

The group remains of Lt. Jack S. M. Arnett, Charleston, W.V.; Flight Officer William B. Simpson, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Tech. Sgt. Charles T. Goulding, Marlboro, N.Y.; Tech. Sgt. Robert J. Stinson, San Bernardino, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Jimmie Doyle, Lamesa, Texas; Staff Sgt. Leland D. Price, Oakwood, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Earl E. Yoh, Scott, Ohio, and the individual remains of Lt. Frank J. Arhar, Lloydell, Pa. were buried today in Arlington National Cemetery. The individual remains of Arnett, Yoh, Doyle and Stinson were buried earlier by their families.

On Sept. 1, 1944, their B-24J Liberator bomber was shot down while on a bombing mission of enemy targets near the town of Koror, Republic of Palau. Crewmen on other aircraft reported seeing Arnett’s aircraft come apart in the air and crash into the sea between Babelthuap and Koror islands. Two parachutes were spotted, but none of the 11-man crew ever returned to friendly territory. An aerial search was unsuccessful, and more thorough recovery operations could not be conducted due to Japanese control of the area.

Post-war Japanese documents established that three other members of the crew survived the crash but died while prisoners of the Japanese. In 1949, the American Graves Registration Service declared the remains of all 11 crew members to be non-recoverable.

In October 2000, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command mounted several investigations on Babelthaup island to attempt to locate several reported mass burial sites. A team returned in November 2001, but their excavation did not recover any material or biological evidence indicating a mass burial. They returned again January 2004, and shortly before the team completed their excavation, they were contacted by a private wreckage hunting group called the “Bent Prop Project” which had discovered the wreckage of a B-24 on the ocean floor four miles northeast of where a diagram from U.S. records indicated a crash site. The JPAC team examined the wreckage and recovered remains.

Divers from JPAC and the U.S. Navy examined the underwater site again in 2005 where they recovered more remains and material evidence. After stabilizing the underwater site for safety reasons, the joint JPAC-U.S. Navy team dived on the site again in early 2007 and recovered additional remains. The joint team returned again in 2008 and recovered more remains and evidence.

The use of mitochondrial DNA analysis from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, the biological profile of the remains, dental records, material evidence including machine gun serial numbers and identification tags of Arnett, Doyle and Yoh, enabled JPAC scientists to establish the identifications.

[Grace]

24 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Grant A. Wichmann, 27, of Golden, Colo., died April 24 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., of wounds sustained March 12 when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire at Out Post Bari Alai, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

[Grace]

27 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Keith A. Coe, 30, of Auburndale, Fla., died April 27 in Khalis, Iraq, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

[Grace]

27 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Nathan P. Kennedy, 24, of Claysville, Pa., died April 27, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire near Quarando Village, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

[Grace]

29 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

1st Lt. Salvatore S. Corma, 24, of Wenonah, N.J., died April 29 at Forward Operating Base Bullard, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using improvised explosive devices. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

[Grace]

27 April 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Anthony O. Magee, 29, of Hattiesburg, Miss., died April 27 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, of wounds sustained April 24 when enemy forces attacked his unit with indirect fire at Contingency Operating Base Kalsu, Iskandariyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.

[Grace]

3 May 2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of an airman who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Airman 1st Class Austin H. Gates Benson, 19, of Hellertown, Pa., died May 3 of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident near Khyber, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 54th Combat Communications Squadron at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

[Grace]

Great Britain

3 May 2010

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Lance Corporal Barry Buxton, 27, from Meir, Stoke-on-Trent. 21 Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan on 3 May 2010.

LCpl Buxton was involved in a traffic accident whilst driving alongside the Nahr-e Bughra canal and died of his injuries soon afterwards at the UK hospital in Camp Bastion.

[Grace]

Great Britain

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm the death of Sapper Daryn Roy, 28, Consett, County Durham of 21 Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan on 3 May 2010.

Sapper Roy's vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device, while he was travelling near Patrol Base Pimon, he was evacuated by helicopter but died of his injuries at the Hospital in Camp Bastion.

[RICHARD]

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_15009490

[wombat2u2004]

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_15009490

Sad mate.
But soon they'll run in to each other again, up top

[Grace]

4 May2010

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Ralph Mena, 27, of Hutchinson, Kan., died May 4 in Tikrit, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 7th Signal Brigade, 5th Signal Command, Mannheim, Germany.