Free Republic

LONE JACK, MO (KCTV) - A Lone Jack grandfather says he fears for his life after a run in with police. Bill Swan was on his tractor when he took issue with a utility crew trying to dig on his property. His family says that before long the Lone Jack police arrived and Swan was left bloodied and more from being yanked off the tractor. "I'm afraid for us to even drive out of our driveway or to get on the street. I don't know what they will do," Libby Swan, Bill's wife, said. Libby Swan hasn't asked her husband...

Matty’s back! Days after The Post exposed the military’s wrongful, 16-month-long separation of injured Army Spc. Brent Grommet and his war dog, Matty, the two were finally reunited on Friday. “I’m about the happiest I’ve ever been,” Grommet, 23, told The Post. Grommet and Matty, who specialized in detecting IEDs, were injured when one exploded near them in Afghanistan. Grommet came back with PTSD, traumatic brain injury, migraines, severe chronic back pain and breathing problems. Under Robby’s Law — signed by Bill Clinton in 2000 — military dog handlers have the first right to adopt their animals if injured together.

NORTH HIGHLANDS (CBS13) — He survived three tours of duty, but a 91-year-old veteran couldn’t survive the brutal beating he suffered in a home invasion. Akemi Girion had to make the toughest decision of her life this weekend—saying goodbye to her stepfather, John Masson. “His face was all broken—jaw, cheek, head—everything was broken,” she said. “Even if he survives, hes not going to have a quality life.” Masson was badly beaten on Oct. 28 when thieves broke into his North Highlands home in the middle of the night. They blindfolded and tied up Girion and a caretaker and demanded Masson’s...

I keep this calendar on my desk, and while I don't look at it very often I notice that this Wednesday is Veterans Day. It's one of ten federal holidays that we have. Well, I'm a veteran but I hate that name. Considering that we aren't technically at war now, there's an awful lot about war in the news, too, even when it's not something like Veterans Day. I suppose that's because there's so much fighting in the world. There are half a dozen small wars going on right now, some of them in places most of us have never...

Arrowhead (John) fell off a 20’ ladder at work, onto his head, and has a severe brain injury! Broke all the bones in his face and skull, broke his shoulder blade and some ribs. His last post was 10/20 in the morning. He fell about 2pm that same day and was LifeFlighted to the hospital; then, after about 6 hours of surgery, he went directly to ICU. It was touch and go for days in critical condition. After 2 weeks in ICU he has been transferred to a Specialty Neurological Rehab center in Austin, as of 11/3. He can move...

2014 Veterans Day Free Meals, Discounts, Sales and Deals Read more: http://militarybenefits.info/veterans-day-discounts-sales-deals-free-meals/#ixzz3HfEEMUVw

Flag flap: Indiana veteran, wife battle homeowners association over Old Glory Posted: Oct 28, 2014 3:16 PM CST Updated: Oct 28, 2014 3:17 PM CST Bob Willits, 82, of Greenfield, Ind., insists he'll fight a local homeowners Association over the American and POW/MIA flags outside his home. FOX News - An elderly veteran and his wife say there's “absolutely no way” the flagpole outside their Indiana home is coming down, despite threats from a homeowners association — and a local prosecutor intends to back them in court if necessary. Bob and Judy Willits insist they intend to fight multiple letters...

According to the Louisiana regional news website, The Town Talk, the Alexandria V.A.M.C., the only Louisiana V.A. hospital between the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Shreveport, has reported that it's Urgent Care Clinic will be changing it's hours of operation, from a 24-hour operation, to the hours of 8 A.M. to 8 P.M., Monday through Friday, and 8A.M. to 6P.M., on weekends and holidays. The line given, now, is: "The Urgent Care Clinic offers care for cold and flu symptons, high and low blood pressure/blood sugar, and stitches." A few weeks ago, I had a low blood sugar...

The U.S. is planning to train veterans to become solar panel installers in the next six years, the White House said Thursday. The jobs training program is among a host of initiatives the White House says will cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million tons through 2030, plus save billions of dollars on energy bills for homeowners and businesses. It will launch this fall at one or more military bases and train a total of at least 50,000, including veterans....

I'm sharing this here because there isn't a single grunt who doesn't appreciate these loyal, faithful friends and guardians. I also know there are some reasonably high ranked grunts here, and a heck of a lot still hooked into the system who can spread the word. This is truly a vile act. They are not disposable sensor packages with teeth. They are friends. Colleagues. I don't even like dogs much, but having 90 lbs of warm fur and teeth watching over you is immensely reassuring.

Oak Creek Army Ranger Justin Slaby to graduate from FBI training in October Friday, August 29, 2014 10:34 a.m. CDT OAK CREEK, WI (WTAQ) - A wounded Army Ranger from Oak Creek will graduate from the FBI's training academy in October. Justin Slaby won a federal lawsuit last year, after he claimed he was wrongly dismissed from the FBI academy because he lost his left hand while serving in Iraq. This week, the Justice Department's inspector general found that former Milwaukee FBI office director Teresa Carlson urged agent Mark Crider to commit perjury, by testifying that Slaby wasn't qualified to...

Okay. I'm not sure how I missed the updates/reports other than the fact that they appear not to have been posted here at FR. Principal source link is the PDF report to Congress in regards to a prior post here:("Final Report to the Congressional Defense Committees in Response to the Joint Explanatory Statement Accompanying the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2014, page 90, “Radiation Exposure” "). (link will open/download the PDF) An update on the USS Ronald Reagan crew lawsuit re their mysterious illnesses in the wake of Operation Tomodachi is here: ("USS Reagan Sailors’ Lawsuit Found ‘Lacking’ Nuclear Expert...

A Marine veteran says he was denied entry into a Six Flags theme park in New Jersey after being told that the shirt he was wearing would offend people. Mario Alejandro, 33, had been given the shirt (shown above) for Father's Day and he was attempting to take his family to Six Flags Great Adventure last weekend for a child's birthday party. Proceeds from the Fourth of July-themed shirt go to the Marine Reconnaissance Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports recon Marines and their families. Alejandro served four years in the Marines, including at the start of the Iraq war. He is classified...

A World War II veteran cried today as he said good-bye to his buddy - a 3-year-old boy who became his pal, but is moving away with this family. “It’s going to be tough,” Erling Kindem, 89, said between tears while speaking to ABC News today. Kindem's friendship with his next door neighbor Emmett Rychner, 3, in Farmington, Minnesota, became a heartwarming story that went viral. But the boy is moving today to Northfield, Minnesota, and the veteran is moving with his ailing wife to a retirement center next month.

Some people will do anything to satisfy a craving. One of those people is this man, who rode his bed through the McDonald’s drive through. A couple spotted the man, strapped face down down to an electrical gurney, driving himself across a busy street towards McDonald’s.

Hoping some Freepers might take interest in this local race in west Kentucky. My candidate is running for judge executive in Marshall County, Kentucky. His name is Kevin Neal, and he's a decorated U.S. Marine. During his 20 years of service he served security tours in Bosnia and Haiti and three combat tours in Iraq. During his time in Iraq he led five 6-man sniper teams on 50 Guardian Angel missions as a Scout Sniper Sergeant. He was wounded in a mortar attack in 2004. He returned to Iraq in 2006. His medals include the Purple Heart and the USO...

The last surviving crewman of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, died overnight at his Stone Mountain home. Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, 93, was the navigator on the Aug. 6, 1945 flight that dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb. With the 2010 death of Morris Jeppson, Van Kirk became the only one of the dozen crew members left. For a number of years, he lived at a retirement community in Stone Mountain where by chance he found himself sharing the place with James Starnes, an Atlantan who had a front-row seat at history. Starnes...

Grommet is trying to get his dog back. Don Grommet was able to track Matty to Fort Bragg, where Vet Services was treating the K9 for a torn ACL, and preparing him for separation from service and adoption. The Grommets said they submitted and re-submitted adoption paperwork, and were told the first set of documents were lost. “We were told several times not to worry about it; that everyone knew that Brent was going to adopt Matty” said Don Grommet. But after months of weekly calls to check on the adoption status, Grommet said his son received a call in...

A veteran is extremely disappointed with the Veterans Administration after he says he was locked inside a community clinic for hours on Monday. Jeffrey Duck explained that he arrived at the clinic located on South Volusia Ave. at 1 p.m. as a “walk in” patient. The Marine veteran sat in a consultation room for more than three hours before he realized he was the only one left in the building. “I was apparently left there and forgotten,” Duck told WKMG. Duck began taking video of him walking around the lobby with his cellphone to show that he wasn’t trying to...

An explosive video posted online on Sunday shows two U.S. Marines confronting a man who they accuse of impersonating a military veteran at a funeral in Florida. The Marines first suspected the man was likely an imposer because his uniform featured a mix of mismatched medals and ribbons. After the service they approached the man, who identified himself as a ‘sergeant major’. His name badge states his surname as Davis. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2702355/Is-fraud-U-S-marines-confront-fake-sergeant-major-military-funeral-Florida.html#ixzz38K3eVdDH Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook