Free Republic

The fist bump was their thing in Afghanistan, where both Marines lost legs in the same attack, and the fist bump is still their thing in the hunt for child predators under a special law enforcement program to train and hire medically retired veterans. Cpl. Justin Gaertner and Sgt. Gabriel Martinez in their dress blues bumped fists at an event earlier this year in Florida, just as they bumped fists while recovering from their wounds. Gaertner, 26, of Tampa, Fla., has been partnered for the last two years with retired Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Nathan Cruz, 42, executing the...

A group of injured American servicemen are teaming up to track down child predators and rescue their victims. The ICE/HERO program not only has a noble aim, it is allowing injured veterans to make use of their skills to aid our most vulnerable. Meet Cpl. Justin Gaertner and Sgt. Gabriel Martinez. Both men were Marines who lost their legs during the same attack while serving in Afghanistan. Now they are partnered together conducting computer forensics needed to track down sex traffickers. The program, which was originally limited to only US Special Operations Command veterans is now open to all medically...

The Navy SEAL who shot dead al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is now reportedly living in poverty after leaving the military four years short of being eligible to receive his pension, he claims. Robert O’Neill, 38, from Montana, went public with his identity after meeting family members of 9/11 terror attack victims, he told the Washington Post. And now the heroic commando is saying he was left high and dry by the government he dedicated his life to serving. “The families told me it helped bring them some closure,” said O’Neill, of killing the al-Qaeda founder. O’Neill will also be...

Sanctuary for wounded warriors gets slapped with $10,000 tax bill January 3, 2014 by Joe Saunders A Virginia couple who put up $1 million and 37 acres of rural land to help brothers in arms are learning the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. Ken and Julia Falke, who opened the Boulder Crest Retreat for Wounded Warriors in September, are on the receiving end of a $10,000 property tax bill from Loudoun County. bouldercrest0103Ken Falke told Fox News in a story broadcast Thursday that the couple — operating the site as a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization —...

The Wounded Warriors Project (WWP) pays millions of dollars for commercials showing injured service members. Many were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (Why?). I have talked to many Veterans who were promised many things from WWP and did not receive anything in return for the use of their likeness in commercials and print ads. The commercials do not mention anything WWP does to help the injured service members. Listen closely to the commercials as they parade an injured veteran around like an injured animal. They pay famous actors and musicians to pull on the nation’s heart strings. Fox News takes...

Included among the suspected terrorists were Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. At the time it was revealed, the program called “Operation Vigilant Eagle” caused some controversy but was quickly forgotten and buried by the media. For the DHS, Vigilant Eagle was the expression of the misdirected paranoia that exists at the agency’s highest levels, which since President Obama stepped into office have issued multiple reports about a supposed wave of terrorism by American conservatives of various stripes, from Tea Party members to off-duty cops.

Derek McConnell, a 23-year-old Army sergeant who lost his legs in Afghanistan, was found dead in his bed Monday morning. The cause of death hasn't been been determined, his mother, Siobhan McConnell, told NJ.com in a text message. McConnell enlisted in the military in 2009. He was deployed in 2011, and in July of that year, he lost both his legs, fractured his skull and right arm, and suffered severe blast wounds after getting hit by two improvised explosive devices while on patrol in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Home from Afghanistan for just five months, 25-year-old Indiana National Guardsman Willie Cook was gunned down while shielding his two-year-old son. CBS 2′s Dana Kozlov reports its another case of mistaken identity, with no one in custody. Two-year-old Antoine Cook uses a toy cell phone to talk to his father. It’s all he has. “And to know that your 2 year old has to pretend to talk to his dad,” said Laquana Norwood. On February 2, Cook, was shot and killed while in a car near his grandmother’s East Chicago house where he was taking Antoine for a visit. The...

(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night that he will end the war in Afghanistan by the end of next year, and that after that he will keep tens of thousands of American troops in Afghanistan to fight a war in Afghanistan. “And by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over,” said Obama. For the period after 2014, he said, “We are negotiating an agreement with the Afghan government that focuses on two missions: training and equipping Afghan forces so that the country does not again...

Just a day after receiving the Medal of Honor by the president of the United States, former Army staff sergeant Clinton Romesha has declined an invite by the first lady to be her guest at the State of the Union address Tuesday night. He said that after some soul searching he decided he’d rather spend the evening with friends from his former unit, his wife Tammy — with whom he celebrates a wedding anniversary Tuesday — and their families, CNN reports.

WASHINGTON (CBSDC) - The results of a new study indicate that suicide rates among veterans in the United States are increasing. An estimated 22 military veterans take their lives every day in America, according to the study helmed by Robert Bossarte, an epidemiologist and researcher who works with the Department of Veterans Affairs. While the percentage of all suicides reported as Veterans has decreased, the number of suicides has increased,” the conclusion of the study stated. Specific trends were observed during the course of the study regarding the age and gender of veterans who most frequently committed suicide. “A majority...

Just months after returning from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan, U.S. Army National Guard veteran Tyler Barge was embroiled in another fight defending the American flag. This time, it involves the management of his Salem, Va. apartment complex. A small American flag, displayed in a cup of dirt on his patio wall, is a violation of the building’s code, he was told. Barge received a notice informing him he must remove the flag, along with a few other items – a broom and table, for instance – deemed inappropriate.

As Tammy Duckworth sees it, her path to Congress began when she awoke in the fall of 2004 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. She was missing both of her legs and faced the prospect of losing her right arm. Months of agonizing therapy lay ahead. As the highest-ranking double amputee in the ward, Maj. Duckworth became the go-to person for soldiers complaining of substandard care and bureaucratic ambivalence. snip Veterans' groups say the influx of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is welcome because it comes at a time when the overall number of veterans in Congress is on a steep...

CALLAWAY — Libby Busbee pounded on the window of her son’s maroon Dodge Charger as he sat in the driveway of their home earlier this year. Locked inside his car, U.S. Army Spc. William Busbee sat with a .45-caliber gun pointed to the side of his head. “Look at me,” his mother cried out as she tried to get her son’s attention. “Look at me.” He wouldn’t look. He stared out the front windshield, distant, Busbee said, relating the story from an apartment complex in Callaway. “I kept yelling, ‘Don’t you do this. Don’t do it.’ He wouldn’t turn his...

Sergeant Danny Nightingale, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced to 18 months in a military jail last week. A working 9mm Glock handgun, given to him after he trained a counterterrorism force in 2007, was found in his home by police last year. He said he forgot he had the weapon and failed to declare it. His wife Sally described the father of two as a 'hero who has been betrayed', while the sentence came in for more criticism after it was handed down in the days leading up to Remembrance Sunday. Sgt Nightingale's lawyer said his client...

TOPEKA, KS (KCTV) - A Kansas board that denied a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine a license was primarily concerned about the man's political views. The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts is a 15-member panel appointed by the governor and decides the fate of doctors in Kansas. Terrence Lee Lakin rose to the ranks of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. He served on the front lines in Afghanistan and the war zone in Bosnia as well as a medical mission to Honduras. He saved lives around the world and received a Bronze Star for his service. "I like...

The New York Giants on Tuesday will be showered with confetti and greeted by throngs as they are feted with the city’s most storied honor: a parade through its Canyon of Heroes. But all the fanfare — the parade this week is the fourth since 2000 to honor a sports team — has touched off anger and unease among some returned Iraq veterans, who are eagerly awaiting their own recognition. “Everybody recognizes that the Giants deserve a parade,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. But, he added, “If a football team gets...

EXCLUSIVE: Captain Katherine Jenerette Gives A Woman’s View From AfghanistanAbout Katherine: Katherine Jenerette is Captain in the US Army Reserve and a paratrooper from North Myrtle Beach, SC. She is serving with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division ‘Task Force Arctic Wolves’ in the Horn of Panjwa’i in one of the most volatile districts in Kandahar Province (and Afghanistan). She is a former U.S. Congressional Field Representative for South Carolina’s First District and a North Myrtle Beach Planning Commissioner and was a Candidate for US Congress in 2010. Katherine was recently name as one of THE 45...

Melanie Morgan's web site supporting combat veterans running for a congressional seat.

Usually a handful of ex-soldiers seeks political office every election cycle. But more than 20 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are running this fall for Congress alone. Almost all are riding a wave of public anger at incumbents over a profligate government and dishonest Wall Street -- and a general feeling that the Democratic remedy has proven as bad as, or worse than, the GOP disease.