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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 06/03/2014 10:18:19

Good Morning.

Today is our 4,622nd day in Afghanistan.

We'll start this morning as we always do; with the latest casualty figures from our ongoing war, courtesy on Antiwar.com:

US Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 2,319
Other Military Deaths - Afghanistan: 1,120

We find this morning's Cost of War passing through:

$ 1, 538, 866, 850, 000 .00


I have so many stories that I've picked up over the last week or so that it's tough to know where to begin. Seeing how negative things have been of late, why not a couple of feel-good stories for a change?


We'll start right here in my neck of the woods. You may be familiar with the fishing community of Gloucester; if you've ever bought "Gorton's" frozen fish, this is where it comes from. Like many seaside communities, there's also the "uppity" part of town where the rich folk have their seaside "cottages". One couple has decided that maybe they can do more good with their wealth than simply living better than the rest of us.


GLOUCESTER, Mass. — A Gloucester veteran and his wife have contributed to a charity that provides dream vacations for wounded service men and women.

This is the fourth time that Bob and Germaine Fritz of Gloucester have donated their villa in the Caribbean for use by wounded veterans, through the Virginia-based organization Vacations for Veterans. Bob Fritz served in the U.S. Army in the 1970s.

The organization was founded in 2007 by Peggy and Chris Carr, both veterans of the Marine Corps. The mission is simple: to pair up Purple Heart recipients from the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns with vacation home donors who offer them a free week in their homes.

So far, the charity has sent an estimated 450 veterans and their families on free vacations. There are more than 1,000 Purple Heart recipients on a waiting list.

“We are really excited that we have an extra-special vacation for one of our veterans this year. U.S. Army veteran Daniel Diaz will be going on a vacation to the British Virgin Islands with his family and will be staying for free at the ‘Dream Come True Villa’ owned by Bob and Germaine Fritz,” said Peggy Carr.

Diaz of California will travel with his wife and two children to the villa in Virgin Gorda. Diaz was wounded by an IED in Iraq, suffered cracked vertebrae and traumatic brain injury, but is recovering well.

“He and his family are thrilled to be going on this free trip,” said Carr. “This is a fabulous offer and one that is certainly unattainable for most of our wounded veterans this summer — and most of us.”

Through donations from many individuals, the charity also works to find money to pay for airfare for these Purple Heart veterans.

“Though people may be tired of hearing about Iraq and Afghanistan, the aftermath for these wounded veterans and their caretakers is ever-present, and through donations of vacation homes, time shares and funds to sponsor these dream vacations, the American people are showing that they truly value the service and sacrifice of our military,” Carr said.



If you look at the calendar, you might be aware that it will soon be June 6. It's a nice, round year so many anniversary commemorations are taking place. With most veterans of the day on the other side of 90, this is realistically the last chance that any of them will have to attend and participate. But that also means that those who were liberated on that day are also aging at the same pace...and while our friends on the right have long vilified the French, I tend to view them a little more charitably. Those aging survivors along the Normandy coast are still eternally grateful to us.


SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE, France — Andree Auvray, nine months pregnant, was hiding from German bombings in a Normandy ditch with her husband one night in June 1944 when their dogs started barking. The shadows of three soldiers appeared.

"We both came out to see what was going on," she recalls. She initially thought the men were the Nazi occupiers who had upended life in her quiet farming village. "And then I said `No, it's not the Germans!'

The soldiers were Americans. D-Day had begun.

Auvray relives that wrenching time with clarity and a growing sense of urgency. Seventy years have passed since the Allied invasion of Normandy helped turn the tide against Hitler. With their numbers rapidly diminishing, she and other French women and men who owe their freedom to D-Day's fighters are more determined than ever to keep alive the memory of the battle and its meaning.

As President Barack Obama and other world leaders prepare to gather in Normandy next week to mark the 70th anniversary of the battle, French survivors are speaking to schools, conferences, tourists, filmmakers about their experiences, and their gratitude.

That's especially important to Auvray's hometown of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the first village liberated by the Allies after D-Day.

About 15,000 paratroopers landed in and around the town not long after midnight on June 6, 1944, and seized it from the Germans at 4:30 a.m. An American flag was raised in front of the town hall.

During the drop, American paratrooper John Steele's parachute got caught on the church spire. For two hours, Steele hung there, feigning death before being taken prisoner by the Germans. Today, a dummy paratrooper hangs from the spire in his honor.

Henri-Jean Renaud was an excitable 10-year-old the night the Americans landed, and his father was the town mayor.

"Waves of planes came, paratroopers landed, and one hour later — after various events and fighting on the square between Germans and Americans — (my father) came back home," Renaud recounts. "He was all excited, saying `There you go, it's the (D-Day) landing, it has finally happened!'"


Alas, it wouldn't be "Ask a Vet" unless the harsh realities of war appear at some point. We still won't go far; I'm headed to Miami on this one. There have been reams of print recently about the ongoing problems at the VA. I fear that Paul Rieckhoff may have it right; Shinsecki's resignation is not going to do anything except make people heave a sigh of 'relief' that the problem is gone...without actually changing or improving a thing. But that's not even what I'm mentioning today...there's a story from the Miami VA that reveals problems even more sinister.


MIAMI — As a crisis engulfs the Department of Veterans Affairs over allegations of wrongdoing at VA medical centers across the country, Miami’s VA Hospital has come under fire from one of its own: a longtime employee and police detective, who alleges that some patients are dealing drugs, others are being physically abused — and administrators are covering up the problems.

Thomas Fiore, a VA law enforcement officer who was reassigned to clerical duties in February, said he has repeatedly reported to superiors incidents of drug dealing among patients, evidence of physical abuse of patients, and other potential crimes.

In allegations first reported by WFOR-CBS 4 this week, Fiore said that instead of being allowed to investigate these incidents as a VA detective, he was re-assigned to a clerical position within the hospital’s medical administration department as retaliation.

“I was reassigned because I continued to bring things up to the director, and he continued to ignore it,’’ Fiore, 38, said. “They just needed to get rid of me.’’

Fiore fears continued retaliation for speaking out, and he has hired an attorney to represent him. “There’s not a bone in my body that is not scared,’’ he said.

But he felt compelled to come forward after a federal report in March revealed that the residential drug abuse rehabilitation program at the Miami VA Hospital failed to monitor patients, provide sufficient staff, control access to the facility or even curb illicit drug use among patients — culminating with the June 2013 death of Nicholas Todd Cutter, a 27-year-old Iraq combat veteran who overdosed on cocaine and heroin one week before he was scheduled to graduate from the program.

“Quite honestly,’’ Fiore said, “his death could have been prevented.’’

The Miami VA declined the Herald’s request to interview the VA administrator, Paul Russo, and the chief of staff, Vincent DeGennaro.

Shane Suzuki, a public affairs officer for the Miami VA Healthcare System, said Fiore’s allegations have no evidence to substantiate them.

“Miami VA leadership has every intent of holding employees who mistreat our veterans accountable for their actions,’’ Suzuki said in a written statement. “We will fully investigate any allegations that we do anything less than treat our veterans with the respect and honor they have earned.’’


Of course, I'm not really surprised that it's Florida; but then again given the scope of the VA's problems, this may just be the tip of yet another iceberg.
 

32 comments (Latest Comment: 06/03/2014 23:07:14 by Scoopster)
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Comment by Scoopster on 06/03/2014 12:43:43
Mornin' all..

It's Quarterly Meeting Day here at the office, but all I can think about is this week's episode of Game of Thrones. Now, I've read all the books up to this point so I knew what was coming, but HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT that was some True Blood level of gore.

Comment by Mondobubba on 06/03/2014 12:55:04
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

It's Quarterly Meeting Day here at the office, but all I can think about is this week's episode of Game of Thrones. Now, I've read all the books up to this point so I knew what was coming, but HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT that was some True Blood level of gore.



yeah that was pretty horrific. Yikes!

Comment by Mondobubba on 06/03/2014 12:56:30
Tri, don't get me started on people who bash the French as surrender monkeys. Every single member of the Resistance during WW II was doing something heroic as hell.

Comment by velveeta jones on 06/03/2014 13:36:46
Good morning.

OKAY!!! I GOT IT!! [puts on RWNJ hat]..... Bowe Bergdahl went AWOL so he could plan out.........



BENGHAZI !!!!

(see how they all start with the letter 'B' in 'Murican letters)?

Comment by wickedpam on 06/03/2014 13:43:42
Morning

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 13:49:52
Good morning!

Comment by Mondobubba on 06/03/2014 14:16:00
Quote by velveeta jones:
Good morning.

OKAY!!! I GOT IT!! [puts on RWNJ hat]..... Bowe Bergdahl went AWOL so he could plan out.........



BENGHAZI !!!!

(see how they all start with the letter 'B' in 'Murican letters)?


Very crinkly! Well done with the dot connecting and the flaven!


Comment by Will in Chicago on 06/03/2014 14:27:43
Good morning, bloggers!! I hope that everyone is well.

TriSec, I am very concerned about the VA scandal. However, it is not new. There were multiple reports of problems during the George W. Bush administration.

As for Raine's question on WCPT, I am not sure what they are doing. I don't know if WCPT is going to go with Sam Seder, another national host (to the credit of Jeff Santos, he finally learned how to say Chicago), or a local host. I guess we will find out.

Comment by BobR on 06/03/2014 14:31:17
Quote by Mondobubba:
Tri, don't get me started on people who bash the French as surrender monkeys. Every single member of the Resistance during WW II was doing something heroic as hell.

It irks me no end. They saved our bacon against the British several times in our formative years, and were smart enough to smell the Bush Administration's bullshit all the way across the Atlantic.

Comment by BobR on 06/03/2014 14:32:14
I think the VA needs a good housecleaning head to toe, not just at the head. The offices all need thorough audits.

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 14:35:06
I'm going to be on TUTN tonite!

Comment by Will in Chicago on 06/03/2014 14:38:17
Quote by Raine:
I'm going to be on TUTN tonite!



Okay, as it is Shavuot, I will have to podcast. I am heading over to Mom's to help here with a few things, so I guess I will catch up to TUTN tomorrow, including Friday's show.


Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 14:57:24
We are headed out of town tomorrow afternoon, I was wondering if anyone wanted to write something for Thursday AM?

Comment by wickedpam on 06/03/2014 15:53:59
catching up from yesterday

Comment by TriSec on 06/03/2014 16:00:16
Quote by Raine:
I'm going to be on TUTN tonite!


Got a time and a link, luv?

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 16:12:51
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by Raine:
I'm going to be on TUTN tonite!


Got a time and a link, luv?
7 pm, and I have to get the link From Kenny Pick.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 06/03/2014 16:42:19
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by Raine:
I'm going to be on TUTN tonite!


Got a time and a link, luv?
7 pm, and I have to get the link From Kenny Pick.


I'll be listenin' and a chattin'

Comment by clintster on 06/03/2014 17:01:00
Quote by Raine:
We are headed out of town tomorrow afternoon, I was wondering if anyone wanted to write something for Thursday AM?


I would. I actually have something in mind for that day.

Comment by Mondobubba on 06/03/2014 18:32:40
Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 18:47:33
Quote by clintster:
Quote by Raine:
We are headed out of town tomorrow afternoon, I was wondering if anyone wanted to write something for Thursday AM?


I would. I actually have something in mind for that day.
Awesomeness. Thank you so much Clint!


Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 19:05:48
Quote by Mondobubba:
Catholicism, wow.
That is absolutely horrible.


Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 19:07:31
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Catholicism, wow.
That is absolutely horrible.
And the ones that lived were sold off.

Comment by Scoopster on 06/03/2014 19:50:24
oh. my. fucking. gawd. gaiz.

These people bitching about the Bergdhal POW exchange are off their fucking rockers.

'AMAGAD WE RELEASED TERRORISTS THEY'LL JUST ATTACK US AGAIN'
'AMAGAD HE'S A DESERTER WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT HIM THERE'
'AMAGAD THIS GUY AND MCCAIN AREN'T THE SAME SITUATION'

I want to tear every fucking remaining hair out of my head reading/hearing this bullshit.

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 20:06:59
Quote by Scoopster:
oh. my. fucking. gawd. gaiz.

These people bitching about the Bergdhal POW exchange are off their fucking rockers.

'AMAGAD WE RELEASED TERRORISTS THEY'LL JUST ATTACK US AGAIN'
'AMAGAD HE'S A DESERTER WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT HIM THERE'
'AMAGAD THIS GUY AND MCCAIN AREN'T THE SAME SITUATION'

I want to tear every fucking remaining hair out of my head reading/hearing this bullshit.
It all pisses me off.


Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 20:07:35
I present to you, the Rude One. Scoop, this should make you feel a little better.

Comment by Scoopster on 06/03/2014 20:22:45
Quote by Raine:
I present to you, the Rude One. Scoop, this should make you feel a little better.

I just had to block my brother on Facebook... again. I think for today I'm a bit past feeling better.

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 20:37:04
Fuck you John McCain.

On the February 18 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, McCain explained that he was previously opposed to the idea of releasing the five Guantanamo prisoners in peace talks, but that he was now "inclined to support" a proposal that would release the men in exchange for Bergdahl. When Anderson asked for a second time, "if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?" McCain reiterated his support:

COOPER: Would you oppose the idea of some form of negotiations or prisoner exchange? I know back in 2012 you called the idea of even negotiating with the Taliban bizarre, highly questionable.

MCCAIN: Well, at that time the proposal was that they would release -- Taliban, some of them really hard-core, particularly five really hard-core Taliban leaders, as a confidence- building measure. Now this idea is for an exchange of prisoners for our American fighting man. I would be inclined to support such a thing depending on a lot of the details.

[...]

COOPER: So if there was some -- the possibility of some sort of exchange, that's something you would support?

MCCAIN: I would support. Obviously I'd have to know the details, but I would support ways of bringing him home and if exchange was one of them I think that would be something I think we should seriously consider.


Comment by Mondobubba on 06/03/2014 20:50:46
Begdhazi!

Bob Cesca nails it as well.

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 21:56:20
Quote by Mondobubba:
Begdhazi!

Bob Cesca nails it as well.
scum knobs one and all.

Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 22:47:45
AS soon as I get the link to tontines show, I will post ity here!


Comment by Raine on 06/03/2014 22:53:18
Comment by Scoopster on 06/03/2014 23:07:14
Quote by Raine:
here you go!

In da haus!