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Tag: military

  • High school grad from Ukraine hopes to continue family’s naval legacy by joining the U.S. Navy

    High school grad from Ukraine hopes to continue family’s naval legacy by joining the U.S. Navy

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    WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK (WABC) — Yuri Kryvoruchko was born in the U.S. but his parents are from Ukraine. He comes from a long line of family members who have been in the naval service in Ukraine and hopes to continue that legacy by joining the U.S. Navy upon graduation.

    Kryvoruchko was part of the Class of 2024 who graduated at Alexander Hamilton High School in the Village of Elmsford on Tuesday.

    He spent most of his life in Crimea before the Russian invasion. Kryvoruchko was there when Russia seized control in 2014. He was just 8 years old, but his memories of that are crystal clear.

    “As soon as my home was taken away, when parents’ home and my grandparents’ home, and my cousins and sisters — we all grew up there, so did I. So, when that got taken away that was such a devastating blow to my family,” Kryvoruchko said.

    His family, including two sisters, a brother, uncles and aunts, are still there.

    He sometimes cannot speak to his brother, who is in the Ukrainian Navy, for weeks.

    “You just have these thoughts running through your head, like ‘I don’t know what’s going on,’ I’m just praying to God that I’ll call him one day and that he’ll answer,” Kryvoruchko said.

    Kryvoruchko said he was able to enjoy his graduation briefly. He leaves on Wednesday for the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis where he continues in the U.S., what his family did for generations in the Ukraine.

    “My family is in the Ukrainian Navy, let me be the first in the American Navy. I love naval culture. I come from a naval family. My dad was in the Navy and my grandparents were as well.” Kryvoruchko said.

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    Jim Dolan

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  • SofWolf offers STEM program at USF St. Pete for Gold Star family members

    SofWolf offers STEM program at USF St. Pete for Gold Star family members

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    PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Around 25 high school and college students from across the country came to the University of South Florida St. Pete campus in June to take part in SofWolf‘s STEM program for military families. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The STEM program, with a focus on machine learning, automation, robotics and more, is for military youth between the ages of 16-24

    • The program happens once a year but they’re looking to expand
    • Many of the attendees lost a family member that was serving on active duty


    With a focus on machine learning, automation, robotics and more, program leaders say they try to bring in Gold Star family members like Jada Newman, who lost her father while serving in the military.

    The company’s co-founder, Mike Vaughn, said it’s their way of giving back to those who served.

    For Newman, she said the program is about much more than learning. It’s a chance for her to remember her father, who served in the army for nearly a decade.  

    “He wanted to protect everyone that lived in this country and he especially wanted to protect us,” she said. “He knew there would be people who work with him that would take care of us.” 

    Newman is attending nursing school in the fall but sees the course as a way to stay connected to her father.  

    This is Newman’s 6th year attending the program, saying Vaughn and the other leaders have been instrumental in helping her grow. 

    “I think he’d be glad that people are coming around us and supporting us and teaching us skills that we can use that maybe he would have taught us,” she said. “If I can be even half the person he was, I would be successful and a good human being.”

    Vaughn said they hope to expand to other parts of the country and hold the lessons more than once a year.

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    Matt Lackritz

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 851

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 851

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    As the war enters its 851st day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

    Fighting

    • At least five people were killed and 41 injured, including four children, after a Russian missile attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, according to Donetsk regional Governor Vadym Filashkin. About 61,000 people lived in Pokrovsk, which is about 24km (15 miles) from the front line, before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
    • Two people were killed in the northeastern region of Kharkiv when their car hit a Russian antitank mine near the border village of Lyptsi.
    • One man was killed in the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, after a Russian-guided aerial bomb attack.
    • Four people were injured after a Russian cruise missile hit a warehouse in the southern port city of Odesa, sparking a fire that spread across 3,000 square metres (3,590 square yards), Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said.
    • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired Lieutenant General Yuriy Sodol as the commander of the Joint Forces of Ukraine’s Armed Forces after he was accused of incompetence and abuse of power, replacing him with Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov.
    • The Ukrainian military said it registered 715 cases of the use of ammunitions containing “hazardous chemical compounds” by Russian forces in May.
    Some of the people injured in the Russian attack on Pokrovsk receive hospital treatment [Alina Smutko/Reuters]

    Politics and diplomacy

    • The Kremlin warned the United States of “consequences” and summoned its ambassador after a Ukrainian attack on Moscow-annexed Crimea killed four people. Russia said the attack was carried out with US-supplied ATACMS long-range missiles and claimed Washington bore responsibility.
    • In response to the Russian claims, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States regretted any civilian loss of life and that Russia was to blame for the war. “We provide weapons to Ukraine so it can defend its sovereign territory against armed aggression — that includes in Crimea which, of course, is part of Ukraine,” Miller told reporters. Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said that Ukrainians “make their own decisions”.
    • Zelenskyy told Colonel Oleksii Morozov, the new chief of Ukraine’s state guard, to clear its ranks of people discrediting the service after two of its officers were accused of plotting with Russia to assassinate senior officials. The guard provides security for various government officials.
    • Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a visit to Beijing that he hoped China would “support efforts to strive for a peaceful end to the war waged by Russia in Ukraine,” that respects international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
    • The US said it would help print 3 million new textbooks for Ukrainian primary schools, after a Russian strike destroyed the Faktur-Druk printing house in Kharkiv in May.
    • The European Union imposed sanctions on 61 more companies, including 19 in China, for allegedly providing “dual-use goods and technology”, which could be used by Russia’s defence and security firms to advance its invasion of Ukraine. Others targeted included companies from Russia, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, India, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates.
    • The EU was due to open membership talks with Ukraine on Tuesday at a ceremony in Luxembourg.

    Weapons

    • The US is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will send an additional $150m in critically-needed munitions to Ukraine. The shipment is expected to include munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), anti-armour weapons, small arms and grenades and 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, two US officials told the Associated Press news agency.

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  • Danvers Coast Guardsman to compete at annual Warrior Games Challenge

    Danvers Coast Guardsman to compete at annual Warrior Games Challenge

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    Danvers native and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Edward “Teddy” St. Pierre will be joining more than 250 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans at the 14th annual Department of Defense Warrior Games Challenge later this month in Florida.

    The event, which runs June 21-30 at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, will see athletes representing the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Special Operations Command, and the Coast Guard, such as St. Pierre, competing in cycling, indoor rowing, swimming, and track.

    The Warrior Games are hosted each year by the U.S. Army Training & Doctrine Command, highlighting the exceptional physical skills and mental toughness of seriously wounded, ill, and injured active-duty and veteran service members. The event celebrates personal tenacity, perseverance, and the triumph of human spirit.

    The Navy Wounded Warrior’s adaptive athletics program is designed to meet the abilities of injured or ill individuals with competitions that help build self-esteem, lower stress levels, and invite service members to rejoin a supportive team environment.

    St. Pierre has served in the Coast Guard for nearly 30 years, with 16 duty stations throughout his career, according to an announcement. As he was approaching retirement, he received a diagnosis of atypical early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

    St. Pierre enrolled in the Navy Wounded Warrior at Naval Medical Center San Diego, which helped him and his family prepare for transition to retirement in Florida. He attended his first adaptive sports camp in February 2023, rekindling his competitive spirit. St. Pierre previously competed in the 2023 Warrior Games Challenge and medaled in swimming and track.

    For more information about the 2024 Warrior Games Challenge, visit dodwarriorgames.com.

    Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202

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    By Michael McHugh | Staff Writer

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  • A final salute to Moffett Field’s historic Hangar 3 as it’s demolished

    A final salute to Moffett Field’s historic Hangar 3 as it’s demolished

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    A place that is no longer wanted by the nation it helped protect, Hangar 3 is being demolished.

    There was an era when the cavernous structure, one of three hangars at Moffett Field between Mountain View and Sunnyvale, had the attention it deserved. Inside its historic wooden walls, generations of proud servicemembers moored and maintained the aircraft that defended us from predators.

    But time has overtaken Hangar 3. Built during World War II, the blimp hangar has long stood idle and empty. Decaying and dangerous, it would cost a fortune to fix.

    Its death has been years in the planning, but now it is time. Demolition is systematic and controlled, slicing the building from north to south. A quicker strategy, using explosives, could stress adjacent structures. It will be gone by next March.

    “There is a deep sense of loss,” said Jonathan Ikan, cultural resources manager at NASA Ames Research Center, which owns and operates Moffett Field. “It has had, and will always have, an everlasting mark on our history.”

    Hangar 3 and its two siblings have been a famed part of the Peninsula’s landscape, punctuating the eastern horizon like giant gray anvils. Hangar 1 is easily viewed from Highway 101; Hangars 2 and 3, more distant, are best seen from the public Golf Club at Moffett Field.

    Built in response to the escalating war in Europe, they are among a handful of surviving U.S. blimp hangars — and are among the largest free-standing wood structures in the world.

    Moffett’s largest and oldest, massive Hangar 1, was built with steel framing in 1933. Hangars 2 and 3, built between 1942 and 1943, are both wood framed and more vulnerable. As part of Google’s deal with NASA to lease parts of the facility, the company is restoring Hangars 1 and 2 for use in private projects.

    Once Hangar 3 is leveled, only five of the original 17 hangars nationwide will remain, said NASA historian James Anderson. Last November, a Tustin-based hangar ignited with such fury that firefighters just let it burn.

    The news hit hard in Hangar 3’s close-knit community of veterans, now retired and scattered across the United States, who are connecting online to share photos and memories of a place that irrevocably changed their lives.

    They are sharing painful memories of friends who died in the skies, and the relief of watching others return safely. Inside Hangar 3, murals of each squadron’s mascot — a marlin, a black cat, a phoenix, and more — were proudly painted on walls.

    They recall winds so fierce that once a giant door blew down, damaging a plane and crushing a truck. An earthquake so strong that it triggered waves, like water, across the concrete floor. An oxygen tank that exploded, soared through the air and pierced a hangar wall.

    A mural in the breezeway of Hanger 3 at Moffett Federal Field. The decaying hangar, built during World War II, is being demolished and will be gone by next March. (Dominic Hart/NASA Ames Research Center) 

    Aviator Larry Beck was on duty on August 5, 1962, the day actress Marilyn Monroe died. “Somehow people got the notion it was a security threat,” he wrote. “We were inundated with phone calls.”

    Hectic during the day, Hangar 3 could feel haunted at night. There were owls in the rafters — and a visiting fox.

    “It was an awesome place to work,” said 68-year-old John Arthur Davis, of Klamath Falls, Oregon, who cared for the wheels, bearings and tires of surveillance aircraft Lockheed P-3 Orions. When on midnight “hangar watch,” he would pedal the vast perimeter in the dark on his bicycle.

    Chris Oman, 77, of Grants Pass, Oregon, a field engineer for the hangar’s Lockheed P-3 Orions in the 1980s, feels “a lot of nostalgia. It served a really special time in history for the San Francisco Bay Area.”

    “It felt like family. There was camaraderie there,” said Charles Marotta, 71, of Las Vegas, a medical corpsman who tended to Hangar 3’s sick and injured. “We got them ready to go. We got them fixed when they came back.”

    Hangar 3 was built in a hurry, without rigorous research and testing, according to NASA historian James Anderson. The United States desperately needed blimps to conduct submarine surveillance operations along the Pacific Coast.

    The original plan called for Hangar 3 to be made of steel, like Hangar 1. But metal was needed for shipbuilding and weapons.

    So, instead, it was built of less durable wood. More than 50 arches of Douglas fir, like a giant rib cage, were curved to accommodate the giant blimps.

    The size of six football fields, Hangar 3 could house six to 12 aircraft. Flared outer walls provided space for offices, a lab, a shop and storage.

    Huge 121-foot-tall doors, rumored to be resistant to nuclear blast, rolled on rails.  A pair of catwalks, 15 stories high, provided access to vast upper reaches.

    “It was so big that it would have its own fog up there,” recalled Davis. When a cold front rolled through, “it would drizzle inside.”

    After the war, the blimps were replaced by Military Air Transport Service planes, whose mission was to deliver cargo, personnel and mail to armed forces across the globe.

    The Cold War brought new responsibilities. Part of Moffett Field’s so-called “Orion University,” it housed P-3 Orion patrol squadrons, which flew long, slow and low missions in search of Pacific threats.

    “The job was to keep watch over the Soviet navy — both their surface ships and, especially, their submarines,” said retired Captain Tom Spink, board chair for the Moffett Field Museum.

    It later housed C-121 Super G Lockheed Constellations, which transported military personnel and their families, then Lockheed C-130 Hercules, which moved cargo. The routes went to Pacific Island nations, as well as the Philippines, Japan, South Vietnam, Thailand, India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia — “very interesting places,” recalled retired pilot and Navy Lieutenant Glenn Cribbs, now 87, of Hollister.

    One of its last roles was to provide around-the-clock mechanical support to the 129th California Air National Guard.

    “The place was busy 24 hours, seven days a week. There were always planes that needed maintaining,” said 57-year-old Tony Divito of Burlingame, who worked on planes’ weapons systems. “We were never closed.”

    The beginning of the end came with the 1990 Base Closure Act when Moffett Field was shut down to save money. The Navy transferred the hangars to NASA, which then leased them to Google subsidiary Planetary Ventures.

    Hangar 3 has outlived its design lifespan, said NASA’s Trina Meiser, an architectural historian. Even when young, it needed work, such as a new roof, stronger trusses and bracing.

    An overhead view of Hangars 2 and 3 from the northwest corner of Moffett Field in June 1943. (Ames Research Center)
    An overhead view of Hangars 2 and 3 from the northwest corner of Moffett Field in June 1943. (Ames Research Center) 

    Despite such efforts, its roof sagged. Timbers fell on the hangar deck. Air conditioners and heaters quit working. During storms, the floor needed mopping.

    “The thing that got me the most was the two to three inches of wood splinters and dust” atop offices and catwalks, recalled fire inspector Rick Say, 68, of Union, Washington. “If any little spark happened, the whole thing could go up.”

    For several years, Google tried to slow its decay.

    “But shoring would be installed for one location and then damage would happen in another location,” said Andres Estrada, Ames environmental protection specialist. “It became this progressive problem.”

    Officials gave in to despair. In a report, NASA concluded that repairs would be “extensive, undefinable, and cost-prohibitive.” Hangar 3’s last resident was the National Guard’s engine shop.

    “Finally the word came out that it just was not possible to save it,” said Spink.

    “It’s going to be really hard when it all comes down,” he said. “We’re going to have to raise a glass to Hangar 3.”

    Hangars 2, left, and 3, right, at NASA Ames Research Center on Monday, May 15, 2006. Hangar 3, considered unsafe, began demolition in Dec. 2023. It will be completed by March 2025. (NASA Ames Research Center)
    Hangars 2, left, and 3, right, at NASA Ames Research Center on Monday, May 15, 2006. Hangar 3, considered unsafe, began demolition in Dec. 2023. It will be completed by March 2025. (NASA Ames Research Center) 

    Learn more about Hangar 3’s legacy at NASA’s new educational website: https://historicproperties.arc.nasa.gov/h3historysite/initial/

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    Lisa M. Krieger

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  • Non-profit sends veterans to D.C for the 50th time

    Non-profit sends veterans to D.C for the 50th time

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    PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Local nonprofit Honor Flight of West Central Florida recently flew 75 veterans from Tampa Bay to Washington D.C. at no cost. 

    What You Need To Know

    • This mission marked the 50th time Honor Flight of West Central Florida sent veterans to D.C.
    • Hundreds of people gathered at the St. Pete–Clearwater International Airport to welcome the veterans home 
    • There are two more honor flights taking veterans to D.C. this year. One is on Sept. 10 and another is on Oct. 22

    This day trip is to give veterans the chance to see the war memorials in our nation’s capital, including Gary Mull.

    He said after previously being part of the group that welcomes veterans home, being able to go D.C. was an incredible experience. 

    “Thinking back on all of the thousands and thousands of people whose names I came across today that gave the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom, it’s even more meaningful,” he said. 

    Mull served in the Air Force as a medic for around eight years during the Gulf War.

    He said the cheers and thanks from the hundreds of supporters who welcomed him home meant so much because everyone attending knows the event is not just about them.

    He said all they support the honor flight so the heroes that fought for our country can be remembered by the veterans still here.

    “When you see the names on the wall … that’s not just something that’s chiseled in the granite, that’s a life, that’s a person who has a family, a mother, father, sister, brother,” he said. 

    There are two more honor flights taking veterans to D.C. this year. One is on Sept. 10 and another is on Oct. 22.

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    Matt Lackritz

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  • More Coast Guard JROTC programs to be added next school year

    More Coast Guard JROTC programs to be added next school year

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    PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — JROTC programs are in high schools across the country representing our military branches.

    What You Need To Know

    • There are 10 Coast Guard specific JROTC programs in the country

    • Seven additional Coast Guard JROTC programs are set to open in the upcoming school year

    • All of the our military branches are represented in JROTC programs

    However, only 10 represent the Coast Guard, one of which is in Tampa Bay.

    Students like Claire Lafave, a soon-to-be junior at Pinellas Park High School, is a member of the program. 

    “I want to go into the United States Coast Guard as a Bosman’s mate,” she said,

    Lafave will be the company commander in the school’s JROTC program during the upcoming school year. 

    Lafave said a military career has always been in the back of her mind, but after discovering her school has one of the few Coast Guard JROTC programs in the country, her dream was born. 

    From jumping through tires and crawling through pipes to vaulting over walls, the training is intense. 

    “I was really shy when I got here,” she said. “So, definitely growing as a leader and meeting all of them and encouraging them, it’s definitely brought me out of my shell.” 

    Master Chief and one of the teachers for the Pinellas Park JROTC, Michael Collis, said they were the fourth Coast Guard-specific program created in 2021.

    Now, there are 10 nationwide, with 7 more openings at the start of the next school year, including one in Orlando. 

    “Just making better citizens and teaching leadership and giving leadership opportunities for young high schoolers to have and just prepare them for the real world,” he said. 

    Lafave said it’s the guidance Collis and other teachers have given her that’s pushed and motivated her. 

    However, she doesn’t do this just for them: her classmates push her just as much. 

    “I want people to see me as someone they can trust, as almost like family,” Lafave said. “That’s what we build here. I know when I’m nervous or something, I have people who are going to back me up.”

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    Matt Lackritz

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  • cut pumped pure

    cut pumped pure

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    Decimation (from Latin decimatio ‘removal of a tenth) was a form of military discipline in which every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort. The discipline was used by senior commanders in the Roman army to punish units or large groups guilty of capital offences, such as cowardice, mutiny, desertion, and insubordination, and for pacification of rebellious legions. The procedure was an attempt to balance the need to punish serious offences with the realities of managing a large group of offenders.

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  • Former second in command of US Navy arrested in alleged bribery scheme linked to tech company

    Former second in command of US Navy arrested in alleged bribery scheme linked to tech company

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    A retired four-star admiral who was once the Navy‘s second highest ranking officer was arrested Friday on charges that he helped a company secure a government contract for a training program in exchange for a lucrative job with the firm.

    Robert Burke, who served as vice chief of naval operations, faces federal charges including bribery and conspiracy for what prosecutors allege was a corrupt scheme that led to the company hiring him after his retirement in 2022 with a starting annual salary of $500,000. He oversaw naval operations in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa.

    Also charged in the case are Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, who are co-chief executive officers of the company. The company is not named in court papers, but Kim and Messenger are named as the CEOs on the website for a company called NextJump, which provides training programs.

    “The law does not make exceptions for admirals or CEOs. Those who pay and receive bribes must be held accountable,” said Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. “The urgency is at its greatest when, as here, senior government officials and senior executives are allegedly involved in the corruption.”

    Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Florida, made his initial appearance in Miami on Friday but didn’t enter a plea during the hearing, according to defense attorney Timothy Parlatore. The lawyer said Burke will plead not guilty and intends to clear his name at trial.

    “I think a jury will see through this,” Parlatore said.

    Burke conditionally retired from the Navy on July 31, 2022. Senior officers will often conditionally retire if there are administrative matters pending.

    Rear Adm. Ryan Perry said the Department of the Navy has fully cooperated with the investigation.

    “We take this matter very seriously and will continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice,” Perry said in a statement.

    Kim and Messenger’s company provided a workforce training pilot program to a component of the Navy from August 2018 through July 2019. The Navy terminated the pilot program in late 2019 and directed the company not to contact Burke.

    But the two company executives arranged to meet with Burke in Washington, D.C., in July 2021. During the meeting, Kim and Messenger proposed that Burke use his Navy position to steer them a contract in exchange for future employment at the company, the indictment alleges.

    In December 2021, Burke ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to train personnel under Burke’s command in Italy and Spain, according to the indictment. Burke began working at the company in October 2022.

    Parlatore noted that the value of that contract was smaller than Burke’s starting salary.

    “There was no connection between this contract and his employment.” Parlatore said. “The math just doesn’t make sense that he would give them this relatively small contract for that type of a job offer.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Lolita C, Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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    Michael Kunzelman and Alanna Durkin Richer | Associated Press

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  • District illegally refused to rehire music teacher after military deployment, feds say

    District illegally refused to rehire music teacher after military deployment, feds say

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    The Department of Justice is suing an Oklahoma school district that refused to rehire a teacher after he was deployed, according to officials. 

    The Department of Justice is suing an Oklahoma school district that refused to rehire a teacher after he was deployed, according to officials. 


    Getty Images

    An Oklahoma school district is accused of illegally refusing to rehire a teacher after he returned from military deployment. Now the Department of Justice is suing.

    .

    On July 16, 2019, Michael J. McCullough began working for Oklahoma City Public Schools as a band teacher. He then became a member of the United States Air Force Reserve in June 2020, according to the lawsuit filed May 29.

    McCullough was employed as a music teacher with the school district for the 2021-2022 school year. However, in February 2022, he received a non-continuance notice from the school.

    So he reached out to Cindy Lang, the principal of Fillmore Elementary School, where he taught at the time, according to the lawsuit.

    She responded in an email, saying she “didn’t know they were sending out the non continuing [sic] letters today,” according to court documents. “That’s just protocol. All teachers under two years get that. I’d like you to stay if you are happy.’”

    After receiving this email, McCullough believed he would continue his employment through the 2022-2023 school year.

    A day later, he received orders for military service beginning Feb. 14, the lawsuit said.

    McCullough notified school officials that he would have to take a leave of absence to fulfill his military duties. Then, he received an email from Lang.

    “I’m trying to wrap my mind around this and I’m very concerned. So I’m paying you all year and have to have a sub? It would make it so much easier to fill this with a music teacher if you resign. But this is your choice,” the email said, according to the lawsuit.

    Then, on March 10, McCullough received a letter from the school, saying his contract would not be renewed.

    Oklahoma City Public Schools told McClatchy News in a statement that it was “made aware of the lawsuit” and is reviewing it.

    “The district will work through the legal process accordingly,” the statement read. “We cannot provide any further comment at this time.”

    Still, on April 25, McCullough notified school officials that he intended to return to his employment for the 2022-2023 school year, the court document said. On July 29, he informed school officials that his military duties were extended until Dec. 30, and that he would be able to return to his employment after Christmas break.

    School officials responded to him, saying, “Thank you for sending this information, however, your employment with OKCPS ended on July 15, 2022, at the end of your 2021-2022 contract,” the lawsuit said.

    In December, McCullough reached out again after seeing a job posting for a band teacher position at a middle school. McCullough was interviewed for the position, according to the lawsuit, but the school hired someone else.

    McCullough once again requested to be reinstated to his former teaching position, to which school officials responded, saying, “Since you are not currently employed with OKCPS, you must apply for open positions and follow the normal recruitment process,” the lawsuit said.

    The lawsuit said the school’s refusal to reinstate McCullough was a direct violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which “protects the rights of uniformed service members to reemployment in their civilian employment following absences due to military service obligations,” according to a May 29 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.

    “Service members are called to leave their home and work to serve and protect us,” U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma said in the release. “It is our job to make sure their employment rights are protected once they return home. My office will continue to vigorously defend the rights justly earned by those who serve our country.”

    The lawsuit is asking for an amount equal to McCullough’s lost wages, as well as further relief.

    Jennifer Rodriguez is a McClatchy National Real-Time reporter covering the Central and Midwest regions. She joined McClatchy in 2023 after covering local news in Youngstown, Ohio, for over six years. Jennifer has made several achievements in her journalism career, including receiving the Robert R. Hare Award in English, the Emerging Leader Justice and Equality Award, the Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and the Distinguished Hispanic Ohioan Award.

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  • Rediscovering the legacy of Gloucester’s Babe Ruth

    Rediscovering the legacy of Gloucester’s Babe Ruth

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    GLOUCESTER — Marine Corps 1st Lt. Sherman B. Ruth Jr. was nicknamed “Babe Ruth” when he played baseball at Gloucester High School.

    His yearbook ambition read he wanted to play professional baseball, but he never got the chance.

    He was 23 when he died on May 17, 1945, after being wounded on Okinawa toward the end of World War II.

    To this day, the National Honor Society chapter at Gloucester High is named in his memory.

    For his bravery, Ruth was awarded the Silver Star during the war, and was posthumously presented with a Gold Star in lieu of a second Silver Star.

    Recently, Gloucester resident Wayne Soini, a labor lawyer and the author of “Gloucester’s Sea Serpent,” became interested in Ruth’s legacy.

    Soini had been a member of the Sherman B. Ruth National Honor Society at Gloucester High, from which he graduated in 1966. Back then, he wondered who Ruth was, but was unable to get an answer.

    “Years later, retired, I said, ‘I’m going to finally look up and find out more who Sherman B. Ruth was,’” Soini said.

    On the 79th anniversary of Ruth’s death, in the runup to Memorial Day, Soini gave a presentation of Ruth’s life and legacy during a Friday Veterans Coffee Social at Cape Ann Veterans Services on Emerson Avenue.

    “Sherm’s heroic legacy and memory was relived today on the 79th anniversary of his death reminding us all of the service and sacrifices of our military men and women,” Cape Ann Veterans Services posted on Facebook.

    Soini was presented with a citation from Mayor Greg Verga honoring Ruth for his bravery, which was to be presented to his only grandchild, Michelle Sanfilippo, who aided Soini in his research. (A copy of Soini’s presentation can be found at Cape Ann Veterans Services).

    “Wayne did a wonderful job honoring my grandfather,” Sanfilippo said in an email. “I was able to provide him with old letters from the war, personal photos of my grandfather, his Purple Heart and Silver medals and other documents from his time at war.”

    Ruth’s only son, Sanfilippo’s father, was also named Sherman B. Ruth. He was only 14 months old when the young Gloucester lieutenant was killed in World War II.

    “Even though he never knew him,” Sanfilippo said, “he was always told what a wonderful, smart and honorable man he was. If my dad were alive today he would be very proud of the way that Wayne honored his father and brought his story to life.”

    “I was happy to help Wayne and I was glad I had all of these photos, documents and medals to help him with this story,” she said. “I am also very happy that I have all of these items to pass down to my daughter and son, his great grandchildren.”

    Sherman Barrington Ruth was born in Gloucester in 1921, and graduated Gloucester High School with the Class of 1939. He served as class vice president, class valedictorian, president of the National Honor Society, and the commander of the elite drill team for ROTC, Soini said. He was also captain of the baseball team and he ran the Gloucester Fishermen’s For Roosevelt Club in high school.

    “He was kind of everything,” Soini said in an interview Thursday at 1623 Studios, which is producing a segment on Ruth. “All of those things made him outstanding.”

    Despite his accomplishments, Ruth’s family was no stranger to tragedy. His father died in a boat explosion in 1938. His mother died from tuberculosis in 1940.

    “So these things were going on in his life even when he was doing all these things in 1939,” Soini said. “In the context, he was remarkable. Grace under pressure.”

    Ruth had a little sister who he nicknamed “Sis,” who was born in August 1929. When she was orphaned, Soini said, Ruth offered to go into foster care with her at age 18 to protect her.

    Mary Virginia (Ruth) Norris, died in August 2015 at age 86 in Bonita Springs, Florida, according to her obituary in the Gloucester Daily Times.

    “He was her hero and never forgotten in her heart,” her obituary read.

    Soini said Ruth probably went to Boston University on an athletic scholarship for one year, where he played baseball. He later transferred to Bowdoin College in Maine and graduated at the end of 1942. The reason he was not drafted during college was because he had signed up for the Marine Corps Reserve.

    At the end of 1942, he proposed to his girlfriend, whose first name was Ruth, on the condition that his sister, who was 12 at the time, was going to live with them. The couple were married Jan. 1, 1943. The three of them moved into a top-floor apartment on Prospect Street near St. Ann Church.

    While in Marines officer training in Quantico, Virginia, Ruth was able to get leave to visit his new bride, knowing he was going to be serving in the Pacific. His wife became pregnant and they had a baby boy, named Sherman B. Ruth.

    Soini showed a picture of Ruth with his baby son wrapped in a blanket in front of St. Ann’s.

    After training in Guadalcanal in 1945, his unit was shipped out to Okinawa, which Soini said was the last line of defense before the Japanese homeland.

    There was a bloody battle for the island from April to June 1945, during which Ruth was so heroic, he was awarded a Silver Star for bravery beyond the call in April 1945. He won another Silver Star on May 15 for his bravery, when he was wounded. He died two days later. Because the medal was awarded posthumously, it was called a Gold Star, Soini said.

    While Ruth has been gone for nearly eight decades, it’s not as if he’s been out of sight to Gloucester residents.

    The World War II Marine Memorial Painting hanging on the first floor lobby of City Hall on Dale Avenue not far from the front entrance contains a portrait of Ruth. It was dedicated Nov. 8, 1946. The Marine Corps League commissioned a Rockport artist to paint the portrait, Soini said.

    This 1946 oil painting by Marguerite S. Pearson depicts Ruth and the other four Marines from Gloucester who died in the Pacific Theater during the war: Sgt. Ralph J. Greely, Capt. Wilfred H. Ringer, Pfc. John M. Sweet and Pfc. Robert P. Maguire.

    “And if you look at the portrait,” Soini said, “he’s seated with medals he never had a chance to wear.”

    Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.

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  • Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

    Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 813

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    As the war enters its 813th day, these are the main developments.

    Here is the situation on Friday, May 17, 2024.

    Fighting

    • Visiting Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the northeast was “extremely difficult” but “under control” after the military partially halted a Russian advance, most notably thwarting an invasion of Vovchansk, 5km (3 miles) from the border with Russia.
    • Sergiy Bolvinov, the head of police investigations in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, accused Russia of taking “30 to 40” civilians captive in Vovchansk to use as “human shields” near their command centre.
    • General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said he did not believe Russia’s military had the troop numbers to make a strategic breakthrough in the Kharkiv region and he was confident Ukrainian forces would hold their lines there.
    • Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia was directing its most intense assaults on the front line near the cities of Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia’s offensive has been unrelenting for months.
    • An air raid alert in the northeastern Kharkiv region remained in place for more than 16 and a half hours amid Russian drone and missile attacks. Officials said five drones hit parts of the city of Kharkiv, starting a fire. There were no reports of casualties. The alert was lifted in the early hours of Friday.
    • Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, said a woman and her four-year-old son were killed when their car was hit by a Ukrainian drone. Two other people in the vehicle were injured.

    Politics and diplomacy

    • Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The two held talks, walked in a park and drank tea. Xi said the two countries’ deepening relationship was a “stabilising force” in the world and that he hoped the war in Ukraine could be resolved peacefully. China has not condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Putin said he was grateful for China’s efforts to resolve the crisis.
    • Russia expelled Adrian Coghill, the United Kingdom’s defence attache, from Moscow a week after Britain ordered Russia’s defence attache to leave London for being an “undeclared military intelligence officer”. UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Moscow’s move was because Coghill “personified the UK’s unwavering support for Ukraine“.
    • Sri Lanka said it would send a high-level delegation to Russia to investigate the fate of hundreds of nationals reportedly fighting in the war in Ukraine. The Defence Ministry said social media campaigns via WhatsApp have targeted ex-military personnel with promises of lucrative salaries and citizenship in Russia, warning its nationals not to be duped.

    Weapons

    • The United States announced sanctions on two Russian nationals and three Russian companies for facilitating arms transfers between Russia and North Korea, including ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Russia had already used at least 40 North Korean-produced ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
    • Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, denied Pyongyang was selling weapons to Russia, saying it was a “most absurd theory”, according to state media. UN monitors have found debris from North Korean missiles in Ukraine.
    • Denmark said it would send Ukraine a new military aid package, mostly of air defence and artillery, worth about 5.6 billion Danish crowns ($815.47m).

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  • Ex-Ukrainian president says US delay in war aid let Putin inflict more damage

    Ex-Ukrainian president says US delay in war aid let Putin inflict more damage

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    Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said the long delay by the U.S. Congress in approving military aid for his country was “a colossal waste of time,” allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to inflict more suffering in the two-year-old invasion and prolonging the war.The severe lack of ammunition, which forced outgunned Ukrainian forces to surrender village after village on the front lines, also sowed concern among Ukraine’s other Western allies about Kyiv’s prospects in repelling the Russian invasion, Yushchenko told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.That sent a signal to Putin to “attack, ruin infrastructure, rampage all over Ukraine,” said Yushchenko, a pro-European reformer who sought to distance Kyiv from Moscow during his 2005-2010 administration.”And, of course, this undermines the morale of those in the world who stand with and support Ukraine,” said Yushchenko, who was in Philadelphia to speak at a World Affairs Council event.The delay “is not fatal” to Ukraine, but it forced Ukraine’s war planners to revise the current year’s campaign, he said. Yushchenko has backed the handling of the war by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and has asserted that no Ukrainian politician would give up territory in order to end the war.Yushchenko said it would be a “big mistake” for the U.S. and Europe to expect such a deal for peace, and would only embolden Putin to attack again.It would, he said, “give Putin five or seven years to get stronger and then start this misery again.”On the battlefield, Russia is pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and put pressure on overstretched Ukrainian forces. Yushchenko urged Western allies to make political decisions faster to aid Ukraine in a fight that soldiers are waging every day around the clock.”The front line is working 24 hours, it doesn’t take vacation,” he said.After the U.S. aid was approved last month, President Joe Biden said he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $61 billion war aid measure for Ukraine. Without it, CIA Director Bill Burns has said, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year.Still, only small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the Biden administration was “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine following the monthslong delay by Congress. “The level of intensity being exhibited right now in terms of moving stuff is at a 10 out of 10,” he said. The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support.Biden and Ukraine’s allies in Congress pushed for months to overcome resistance from hard-right Republican lawmakers in the House over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.Final action only came after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed past that opposition last month to bring Ukraine aid to a vote.The funding impasse dated back to August, when Biden made his first emergency spending request for Ukraine. Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine. Yushchenko acknowledged the huge losses that Ukraine has suffered in over two years of war, costing lives every day and forcing regular Ukrainians to join the fight. But he said that he was ashamed to hear arguments about “war fatigue” and that it shouldn’t be an excuse to stop fighting.”Every day we pay with our lives,” Yushchenko said. “The lives of children and women, the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Our infrastructure is being destroyed every day.”Despite his harsh criticism of the U.S. delay in approving the latest military aid, Yushchenko acknowledged that Ukraine has been able to recapture a significant part of the occupied territory thanks to Western support.More gains can be achieved if the allies are united, Yushchenko said. “For Putin, the main geopolitical challenge is freedom and democracy. And today he is using all available resources to show that the Western world is weak” and unable to coalesce, Yushchenko said.He has said he believes victory for Ukraine is inevitable, given the sacrifice of the country’s citizens to fight, and sees the war as a larger, defining battle to defend democracy from tyranny and imperialism.Yushchenko came to power as a popular opposition leader in the 2004 Orange Revolution protests, beating Putin’s preferred candidate. As president he adamantly pushed to move Ukraine out of Moscow’s shadow and integrate more closely with Western Europe. But his presidency was marked by political skirmishing that paralyzed government and prevented any of his promised reforms from being passed. He lost power amid a plunging Ukrainian economy during the 2008 global financial crisis and tensions with Russia highlighted by a clash over gas prices.Yushchenko survived a dioxin poisoning during his 2004 election campaign, and several former Russian intelligence officers accused Moscow of being behind the poisoning.The poisoning forced Yushchenko to temporarily abandon campaign activities in the midst of Ukraine’s hotly contested presidential race, and severely disfigured his face. But it also earned him the sympathy of many Ukrainians. He has said he subsequently underwent more than two dozen surgeries. Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

    PHILADELPHIA —

    Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said the long delay by the U.S. Congress in approving military aid for his country was “a colossal waste of time,” allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to inflict more suffering in the two-year-old invasion and prolonging the war.

    The severe lack of ammunition, which forced outgunned Ukrainian forces to surrender village after village on the front lines, also sowed concern among Ukraine’s other Western allies about Kyiv’s prospects in repelling the Russian invasion, Yushchenko told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.

    That sent a signal to Putin to “attack, ruin infrastructure, rampage all over Ukraine,” said Yushchenko, a pro-European reformer who sought to distance Kyiv from Moscow during his 2005-2010 administration.

    “And, of course, this undermines the morale of those in the world who stand with and support Ukraine,” said Yushchenko, who was in Philadelphia to speak at a World Affairs Council event.

    The delay “is not fatal” to Ukraine, but it forced Ukraine’s war planners to revise the current year’s campaign, he said.

    Yushchenko has backed the handling of the war by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and has asserted that no Ukrainian politician would give up territory in order to end the war.

    Yushchenko said it would be a “big mistake” for the U.S. and Europe to expect such a deal for peace, and would only embolden Putin to attack again.

    It would, he said, “give Putin five or seven years to get stronger and then start this misery again.”

    On the battlefield, Russia is pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and put pressure on overstretched Ukrainian forces.

    Yushchenko urged Western allies to make political decisions faster to aid Ukraine in a fight that soldiers are waging every day around the clock.

    “The front line is working 24 hours, it doesn’t take vacation,” he said.

    After the U.S. aid was approved last month, President Joe Biden said he was immediately rushing badly needed weaponry to Ukraine as he signed into law a $61 billion war aid measure for Ukraine. Without it, CIA Director Bill Burns has said, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year.

    Still, only small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line, according to Ukrainian military commanders, who said it will take at least two months before supplies meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line.

    U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday that the Biden administration was “trying to really accelerate the tempo” of U.S. weapons shipments to Ukraine following the monthslong delay by Congress. “The level of intensity being exhibited right now in terms of moving stuff is at a 10 out of 10,” he said.

    The U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday in an unannounced diplomatic mission to reassure Ukraine that it has American support.

    Biden and Ukraine’s allies in Congress pushed for months to overcome resistance from hard-right Republican lawmakers in the House over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.

    Final action only came after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed past that opposition last month to bring Ukraine aid to a vote.

    The funding impasse dated back to August, when Biden made his first emergency spending request for Ukraine. Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine.

    Yushchenko acknowledged the huge losses that Ukraine has suffered in over two years of war, costing lives every day and forcing regular Ukrainians to join the fight. But he said that he was ashamed to hear arguments about “war fatigue” and that it shouldn’t be an excuse to stop fighting.

    “Every day we pay with our lives,” Yushchenko said. “The lives of children and women, the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. Our infrastructure is being destroyed every day.”

    Despite his harsh criticism of the U.S. delay in approving the latest military aid, Yushchenko acknowledged that Ukraine has been able to recapture a significant part of the occupied territory thanks to Western support.

    More gains can be achieved if the allies are united, Yushchenko said.

    “For Putin, the main geopolitical challenge is freedom and democracy. And today he is using all available resources to show that the Western world is weak” and unable to coalesce, Yushchenko said.

    He has said he believes victory for Ukraine is inevitable, given the sacrifice of the country’s citizens to fight, and sees the war as a larger, defining battle to defend democracy from tyranny and imperialism.

    Yushchenko came to power as a popular opposition leader in the 2004 Orange Revolution protests, beating Putin’s preferred candidate. As president he adamantly pushed to move Ukraine out of Moscow’s shadow and integrate more closely with Western Europe.

    But his presidency was marked by political skirmishing that paralyzed government and prevented any of his promised reforms from being passed. He lost power amid a plunging Ukrainian economy during the 2008 global financial crisis and tensions with Russia highlighted by a clash over gas prices.

    Yushchenko survived a dioxin poisoning during his 2004 election campaign, and several former Russian intelligence officers accused Moscow of being behind the poisoning.

    The poisoning forced Yushchenko to temporarily abandon campaign activities in the midst of Ukraine’s hotly contested presidential race, and severely disfigured his face. But it also earned him the sympathy of many Ukrainians. He has said he subsequently underwent more than two dozen surgeries.

    Arhirova reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

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  • WWII soldiers posthumously receive Purple Heart medals

    WWII soldiers posthumously receive Purple Heart medals

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    PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — The families of five Hawaii men who served in a unit of Japanese-language linguists during World War II received posthumous Purple Heart medals on behalf of their loved ones on Friday, nearly eight decades after the soldiers died in a plane crash in the final days of the conflict.

    “I don’t have words. I’m just overwhelmed,” Wilfred Ikemoto said as he choked up while speaking of the belated honor given to his older brother Haruyuki.

    What You Need To Know

    • The families of five Hawaii men who served in a unit of Japanese-language linguists during World War II have received posthumous Purple Heart medals on behalf of their loved ones nearly eight decades after the soldiers died in a plane crash in the final days of the conflic

    • The five were among 31 men killed when their C-46 transport plane hit a cliff while attempting to land on Aug. 13, 1945 

    • Army records indicate only two of the 31 ever received Purple Heart medals, which the military awards to those wounded or killed during action against an enemy

    The older Ikemoto was among 31 men killed when their C-46 transport plane hit a cliff while attempting to land in Okinawa, Japan, on Aug. 13, 1945.

    “I’m just happy that he got recognized,” Ikemoto said.

    Army records indicate only two of the 31 ever received Purple Heart medals, which the military awards to those wounded or killed during action against an enemy.

    Researchers in Hawaii and Minnesota recently discovered the omission, leading the Army to agree to issue medals to families of the 29 men who were never recognized. Researchers located families of the five from Hawaii, and now the Army is asking family members of the other 24 men to contact them so their loved ones can finally receive recognition.

    The older Ikemoto was the fourth of 10 children and the first in his family to attend college when he enrolled at the University of Hawaii. He was a photographer and developed film in a makeshift darkroom in a bedroom at home.

    “I remember him as probably the smartest and most talented in our family,” said Wilfred Ikemoto, who was 10 years old when his brother died.

    On board the plane were 12 paratroopers with the 11th Airborne Division, five soldiers in a Counter-intelligence Detachment assigned to the paratroopers, 10 Japanese American linguists in the Military Intelligence Service and four crew members.

    They had all flown up from the Philippines to spearhead the occupation of Japan after Tokyo’s surrender, said Daniel Matthews, who looked into the ill-fated flight while researching his father’s postwar service in the 11th Airborne.

    Members of the Sogi family hold a photo of Masaru Sogi and the Purple Heart medal posthumously awarded to him, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy)

    Matthews attributed the Army’s failure to recognize all 31 soldiers with medals to administrative oversight in the waning hours of the war. The U.S. had been preparing to invade Japan’s main islands, but it formulated alternative plans after receiving indications Japan was getting ready to surrender. Complicating matters further, there were four different units on the plane.

    Wilfred Motokane Jr. said he had mixed feelings after he accepted his father’s medal.

    “I’m very happy that we’re finally recognizing some people,” he said. “I think it took a long time for it to happen. That’s the one part that I don’t feel that good about, if you will.”

    The Hawaii five were all part of the Military Intelligence Service or MIS, a U.S. Army unit made up of mostly Japanese Americans who interrogated prisoners, translated intercepted messages and traveled behind enemy lines to gather intelligence.

    They five had been inducted in January 1944 after the MIS, desperate to get more recruits, sent a team to Hawaii to find more linguists, historian Mark Matsunaga said.

    Altogether some 6,000 served with the Military Intelligence Service. But much of their work has remained relatively unknown because it was classified until the 1970s.

    During the U.S. occupation of Japan, they served crucial roles as liaisons between American and Japanese officials and overseeing regional governments.

    Retired Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, who recently stepped down as head of U.S. Cyber Command and the National Security Agency, presented the medals to the families during the ceremony on the banks of Pearl Harbor. Nakasone’s Hawaii-born father served in the MIS after the war, giving him a personal connection to the event.

    “What these Military Intelligence Service soldiers brought to the occupation of Japan was an understanding of culture that could take what was the vanquished to work with the victor,” Nakasone said. “I’m very proud of all the MIS soldiers not only during combat, but also during the occupation.”

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  • Wounded Warrior Project Shares Suicide Prevention Strategies

    Wounded Warrior Project Shares Suicide Prevention Strategies

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    One of the largest veterans nonprofits shares suicide risk reduction strategies at one of the leading conferences on suicide prevention this week. Wounded Warrior Project will offer insights applicable to veterans and others at risk.

    The Department of Veteran Affairs national suicide report shows veterans continue to experience suicide loss at a rate nearly 72% higher than non-veteran U.S. adults, even when adjusted for age and sex.

    “Wounded Warrior Project is grateful to the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) for putting a spotlight on the needs of the military community at their conference,” said Jennifer Silva, chief program officer at WWP. “We are grateful for the opportunity to share best practices and insights and remain committed to addressing the full spectrum of suicide risk factors among the warriors and families we serve.”

    Acknowledging Gen Z’s High Suicide Risk

    Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death for Gen Z Americans, ages 10–24, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Close to 40% of young warriors, ages 18-24, surveyed* by WWP™ had suicidal thoughts in the past year. This marked the highest prevalence of recent suicidal thoughts across any age range surveyed by WWP.

    “It’s a topic at the center of my life,” said Dan Miller, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who will deliver a keynote address at AAS24 titled Lessons For My Son: Helping the Next Generation of Suicide Survivors.

    “Suicide nearly ended my life, continues to claim the lives of my friends, and looms over my young son and his peers who are currently serving in the military. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the wisdom I offer him on how to forge a path out of darkness,” said Miller.

    Pioneering Better Suicide Prevention

    “Exposure to suicide can increase risk even if the crisis did not result in a death. A well-rounded approach to reducing suicide needs to include resources to support and care for someone after exposure to a suicide loss or crisis,” said Lyndsay Tkach, director of Mental and Brain Health Services at WWP. She oversees suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention efforts for more than 250,000 registered warriors and family members.

    Tkach and her team lead efforts to streamline suicide prevention and response strategies at WWP. They also facilitate suicide prevention training for veterans, WWP staff, and community partners empowering individuals to play an active role in suicide prevention regardless of clinical background or experience.

    Tkach will share evidence-based practices in a workshop titled Tackling High Suicide Risk in the Post-9/11 Military Population. Her team will also offer a training workshop titled Military Competency: Nuances of Interacting with Active Duty, Veterans, and Their Families.

    AAS24 takes place May 5th-10th in Las Vegas during May’s Mental Health Awareness Month. Learn more about military mental wellness and resources offered by WWP.

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  • Xfinity Military Benefits: $180/yr, Free Mobile Line, Free Peacock and More – Doctor Of Credit

    Xfinity Military Benefits: $180/yr, Free Mobile Line, Free Peacock and More – Doctor Of Credit

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    Xfinity announced special new benefits and deals for subscribers who are military veterans, service members, and their families:

    • $180 Visa Gift Card for new and existing Military customers that can be applied to their choice of Xfinity services (equivalent to $15 a month per year).
    • One free Xfinity Mobile line for a year (a $480 value – requires subscription to Xfinity Internet Service).
    • Automatic upgrade to become an Xfinity Diamond Rewards member (which is normally reserved for customers who have been with Xfinity for 14+ years) as a part of the Xfinity Rewards program. Enrollment in the program is free and Diamond benefits include:
      • Free Peacock Premium (a $60 annual value), with access to 80,000+ hours of the best in TV, including the latest hits from NBC & Bravo, hundreds of hit movies like Oppenheimer, The Holdovers, and Trolls, plus LIVE sports including Sunday Night Football and Premier League.
      • Access to great entertainment with $1 movie nights, exclusive tickets to premiere movie events, exclusive streaming events with NBCU talent, and more.
      • A wide variety of digital discounts to sites like the NBC Store and Bravo.com, tickets to local sporting events, giveaways, gift cards, sweepstakes, and more.
    • The military community can also continue to enjoy unique streaming experiences, specially priced park tickets, vacation packages, and discounted resort stays at Universal Destinations & Experiences.

    Check for any updates on the military benefits at www.xfinity.com/military.

    Hat tip to readers Tony and Cole S

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    Chuck

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  • Cubic to Demonstrate Advanced Intelligence Technologies at GEOINT 2024 Symposium

    Cubic to Demonstrate Advanced Intelligence Technologies at GEOINT 2024 Symposium

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    Press Release
    •

    Apr 30, 2024 06:00 PDT

    Accelerating Decision Dominance from Space to the Edge


    SAN DIEGO, April 30, 2024 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Cubic Defense, a recognized industry leader in providing digital intelligence, will showcase its all-domain geospatial intelligence solutions May 5-8 during the GEOINT 2024 Symposium at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. 

    “Cubic Digital Intelligence delivers actionable and seamless data integration from space to edge,” said Paul Sartorius, VP & GM, Cubic Digital Intelligence. “Our proven technologies provide advanced geospatial intelligence solutions to address requirements for the Defense and Intelligence communities.” 

    Visit Cubic at booth #2031 and speak with experts who will demonstrate solutions that include:

    • Geospatial Intelligence: Revolutionizes battlespace data dissemination with seamless integration into existing workflows even in DDIL environments. The Tactical Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem integrated with Cubic’s TAKTICS plugin pushes rapid geospatial data updates from enterprise to forward-deployed GEOINT systems. 
    • Advanced Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR): Cutting-edge solutions for ISR processing with Unified Video and ANUBIS, which seamlessly integrates PED (Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination) capabilities for collaborative mission execution.
    • Edge GEOINT: Solutions for tactical units, including HiPER DRIVE, a portable, self-powered, ultra-high-performance map server that fits in a pocket, providing geospatial data anywhere, anytime. 
    • Space Data Delivered to the Edge: Tactical downlink terminal, GATR TRAC, communicates with multi-orbit (HEO, MEO, LEO) constellations and aerial sensors ensuring timely receipt of ISR data, enabling deep sensing from both space and aerial layers.

    To learn more about this event visit: GEOINT Symposium 2024 | Cubic.

    About Cubic
    Cubic creates and delivers technology solutions in transportation that make people’s lives easier by simplifying their daily journeys and defense capabilities that help promote mission success and safety for those who serve their nation. Led by our talented teams around the world, Cubic is driven to solve global challenges through innovation and service to our customers and partners.

    Part of Cubic’s portfolio of businesses, Cubic Defense provides networked Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) solutions and is a leading provider of live, virtual, constructive, and game-based training solutions for both U.S. and Allied Forces. These mission-inspired capabilities enable assured multi-domain access; converged digital intelligence; and superior readiness for defense, intelligence, security and commercial missions. For more information, Cubic Digital Intelligence | Cubic.  

    Source: Cubic Defense

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  • Nuclear Power/IAEA Fast Facts | CNN

    Nuclear Power/IAEA Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the International Atomic Energy Agency and nuclear power.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspects nuclear and related facilities under safeguard agreements. Most agreements are with countries that have committed to not possessing nuclear weapons. The IAEA is the verification authority to enforce the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

    The IAEA has 173 member states (as of April 7, 2021).

    Rafael Grossi has been the director general of the IAEA since December 3, 2019.

    There are 35 member countries on the IAEA Board of Governors, which meets five times a year.

    The IAEA has about 2,500 employees.

    IAEA safeguard programs monitor nuclear reactors to make sure nuclear material is not being diverted for making weapons.

    The IAEA sends out inspectors to monitor reactors.

    The IAEA helps countries prepare and respond to emergencies.

    There are more than 420 nuclear power reactors in operation.

    There are more than 50 nuclear power reactors under construction.

    There are more than 90 operational nuclear reactors in the United States.

    France has a 69% share of nuclear power to total electricity generation, the highest percentage of nuclear energy in the world.

    1939 – Nuclear fission is discovered.

    1942 – The world’s first nuclear chain reaction takes place in Chicago as part of the Manhattan Project, a US research program aimed at developing the first nuclear weapons.

    July 16, 1945 – The United States conducts its first nuclear weapons test in New Mexico.

    August 6, 1945 – An atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

    August 9, 1945 – An atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

    August 29, 1949 – The Soviet Union conducts its first nuclear weapons test.

    December 1951 – Electricity is first generated from a nuclear reactor at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho.

    October 3, 1952 – The United Kingdom conducts its first nuclear weapons test.

    December 8, 1953 – In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Dwight D. Eisenhower asks the world’s major powers to work together in developing peacetime uses of the atom. This is known as the Atoms for Peace program, and 40 countries participate. Also during this speech, Eisenhower proposes the creation of an international agency to monitor the spread of nuclear technology.

    June 26, 1954 – In the Soviet Union, the first nuclear power plant is connected to an electricity grid to provide power to residences and businesses in a town near Moscow.

    1957 – The IAEA is established to facilitate the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

    1950’s – Brazil and Argentina begin research and development of nuclear reactors.

    February 13, 1960 – France conducts its first nuclear weapons test.

    October 16, 1964 – China conducts its first nuclear weapons test.

    March 5, 1970 – The NPT goes into effect.

    May 18, 1974 – India conducts its first nuclear weapons test.

    March 28, 1979 – A partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant occurs in Middletown, Pennsylvania. It is determined that equipment malfunctions, design-related problems and human error led to the accident.

    April 26, 1986 – Reactor number four explodes at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, releasing large amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

    September 24, 1996 – The United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and 66 other UN member countries sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, barring the testing of nuclear weapons.

    December 1997 – Mohamed ElBaradei is appointed IAEA director-general.

    May 1998 – India and Pakistan test nuclear devices amid tensions between the neighboring countries.

    January 10, 2003 – North Korea announces its withdrawal from the NPT.

    August 2003 – IAEA inspectors find traces of highly enriched uranium at an electrical plant in Iran.

    December 19, 2003 – Libya announces that it will dismantle its WMD program, in cooperation with the IAEA as well as the United States and the United Kingdom.

    October 7, 2005 – The IAEA and ElBaradei are named the winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

    December 1, 2009 – Yukiya Amano replaces ElBaradei as director general of the IAEA.

    March 11, 2011 – A 9.0 magnitude earthquake strikes near the coast of Honshu, Japan, creating a massive tsunami. The tsunami knocks out the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant’s cooling systems. The cores of three of six reactors are damaged by overheating. Resulting hydrogen explosions blow apart the buildings surrounding two reactors.

    May 30, 2011 – Germany announces it will abandon the use of all nuclear power by the year 2022. This repeals a 2010 plan to extend the life of the country’s nuclear reactors.

    November 11, 2013 – Iran signs an agreement with the IAEA, granting inspectors access to nuclear sites.

    July 14, 2015 – After 20 months of negotiations, Iran reaches a comprehensive agreement (The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)), with the United States and other countries that is aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear program. In exchange for limits on its nuclear activities, Iran will get relief from sanctions while being allowed to continue its atomic program for peaceful purposes.

    August 11, 2015 – Japan restarts a nuclear reactor on the island of Kyushu. It’s the country’s first reactor to come back online since the 2011 tsunami.

    January 16, 2016 – The IAEA confirms that Iran has taken all of the steps outlined in the nuclear deal, allowing for sanctions to be lifted, as per the agreement.

    May 8, 2018 – US President Donald Trump announces that the United States will withdraw from JCPOA and will be imposing “the highest level of economic sanction” against Iran. In Tehran, Rouhani says Iran will take a few weeks to decide how to respond to the US withdrawal, but Rouhani says he had ordered the country’s “atomic industry organization” to be prepared to “start our industrial enrichment without limitations.”

    May 8, 2019 – Rouhani announces a partial withdrawal from the JCPOA.

    February 16, 2021 – The IAEA reports it received a February 15 letter from Iran stating that it will stop implementing provisions of the additional monitoring protocol as of February 23. This will effectively limit which facilities nuclear inspectors can scrutinize and when they can access them, making it harder for experts to determine if Tehran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons.

    February 18, 2021 – The Joe Biden administration releases a statement indicating that the United States is willing to sit down for talks with Tehran and other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal, before either side has taken tangible action to salvage or return to compliance with the agreement.

    February 21, 2021 – In a joint statement, the IAEA and Iran announce they have reached a deal in which Iran will give IAEA inspectors continued access to verify and monitor nuclear activity in the country for the next three months.

    March 15, 2023 – A spokesman from the IAEA tells CNN in an email that “approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium” contained in 10 drums were found to be missing from supplies held in Libya during an inspection on March 14, 2023.

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  • Notable US Spies Fast Facts | CNN

    Notable US Spies Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here is a look at some US citizens who have been convicted of spying against the United States.

    1962 – Aldrich Ames, son of a CIA analyst, joins the agency as a low-level documents analyst.

    1967-1968 – Enters the Career Trainee Program at the CIA and becomes an operations officer.

    1970s – Specializes in Soviet/Russian intelligence services.

    April 16, 1985 – Volunteers to spy against the United States to KGB agents at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, DC. He receives a payment of $50,000.

    1986-1989 – Ames is stationed in Rome and continues to pass information to Soviet agents. He is paid approximately $1.8 million during this period.

    Late 1980s – The CIA and FBI learn that a number of Russian double agents have been arrested and some executed.

    May 1993 – The FBI begins investigating Ames, with both physical and electronic surveillance.

    February 21, 1994 – Ames and his wife, Rosario, are arrested in Arlington, Virginia, by the FBI, accused of spying for the Soviet Union and later, Russia. It is estimated that Ames has received approximately $2.5 million from Russia and the Soviet Union for his years of spying.

    April 28, 1994 – Ames pleads guilty and is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In October 1994, Ames’ wife receives 63 months in prison.

    October 31, 1995 – CIA Director John Deutch testifies before Congress about the scope of Ames’ espionage. He states that more than 100 US spies were compromised and that tainted intelligence was given to Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

    1970-1991 – David Boone serves in the US Army as a signals intelligence analyst. During the late 1980s, he is assigned to the National Security Agency as a senior cryptologic traffic analyst.

    October 1988 – In the midst of a divorce and financial problems, Boone goes to the Soviet embassy in Washington, DC, and offers to spy on the United States. He is paid about $20,000 a year for his work over the next three years. He continues spying after being transferred to a post in Germany.

    1991 – Boone loses his security clearance and retires from the Army, remaining in Germany.

    1998 – He is contacted by a retired FBI agent posing as a Russian agent. The agent meets with Boone in London and the United States and pays him $9,000 to return to spying for Russia.

    October 14, 1998 – Boone is charged with passing defense documents to the Soviet Union. He pleads guilty in December 1998.

    February 26, 1999 – He is sentenced to 24 years in prison.

    January 14, 2020 – Boone is released from prison.

    1996 – Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins makes visits to Russia to meet with their intelligence agents. He is given a code name and signs a settlement “attesting that he wanted to serve” them.

    1998-2005 – Debbins joins the Army, where he serves in chemical units before being selected for the US Army Special Forces.

    August 21, 2020 – The Department of Justice announces that Debbins has been charged with providing information about US national defenses to Russian agents.

    May 14, 2021 – The DOJ announces that Debbins is sentenced to 188 months in federal prison for conspiring with Russian agents to provide them with US defense intelligence.

    1968-1986 – Noshir Gowadia is employed by Northrop Grumman where he works on technology relating to the B-2 Spirit Bomber, aka the “Stealth” bomber.

    July 2003-June 2005 – Travels to China six times to “provide defense services in the form of design, test support and test data analysis of technologies to assist the PRC with a cruise missile system by developing a stealthy exhaust nozzle.” He is paid over $100,000 during this period.

    October 2005 – Arrested and charged with passing national defense information to China. Superseding indictments are issued in 2006 and 2007.

    August 9, 2010 – Gowadia is found guilty.

    January 24, 2011 – He is sentenced to 32 years in prison.

    January 12, 1976 – Robert Hanssen joins the FBI.

    1979 – Begins spying for the Soviet Union.

    1980 – Begins working for the counterintelligence unit, focusing on the Soviet Union.

    1981 – Transfers to FBI headquarters, initially tracking white-collar crime and monitoring foreign officials assigned to the United States. He is later assigned to the Soviet Analytical Unit.

    1981 – Hanssen’s wife catches him with classified documents and convinces him to stop spying.

    October 4, 1985 – Resumes spying.

    1991 – Breaks off relations with the KGB.

    1999 – Resumes spying, this time for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

    2000 – The FBI identifies Hanssen from a fingerprint and from a tape recording supplied by a disgruntled Russian intelligence operative. The FBI also obtains the complete original KGB dossier on Hanssen.

    December 2000 – The FBI begins surveillance of Hanssen.

    February 18, 2001 – Hanssen is arrested in a Virginia park after making a drop of classified documents. Agents find a bag nearby containing $50,000 that they believe is Hanssen’s payment for the documents.

    July 6, 2001 – Pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage and conspiracy in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty.

    May 10, 2002 – He is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    June 5, 2023 – Hanssen dies in prison.

    1984 – Ana Montes is recruited to spy for Cuba. She is never paid for her spying.

    1985-2001 – She is employed by the Defense Intelligence Agency as an analyst. She is promoted several times, eventually becoming the DIA’s top Cuba analyst.

    Fall 2000 – The FBI and DIA begin investigating Montes.

    September 11, 2001 – In response to attacks on the United States, Montes is named acting division chief, which gives her access to the plans to attack Afghanistan and the Taliban.

    September 21, 2001 – Montes is arrested in Washington, DC, and is charged with conspiracy to deliver defense information to Cuba.

    March 20, 2002 – Pleads guilty to espionage and is sentenced to 25 years in prison.

    January 6, 2023 – Montes is released from prison.

    1977 – Walter Kendall Myers begins working for the US State Department on contract, as an instructor.

    1978 – Myers travels to Cuba and is recruited by Cuban intelligence.

    1979 – Myers and his girlfriend [later his wife], Gwendolyn, begin spying for Cuba. It is believed they receive little to no payment for their services.

    1985 – He is hired by the State Dept. as a senior analyst.

    October 31, 2007 – Myers retires from the State Dept.

    June 4, 2009 – The Myers are arrested.

    November 20, 2009 – He pleads guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit espionage. Gwendolyn Myers pleads guilty to conspiracy to gather and transmit national defense information.

    July 16, 2010 – Myers is sentenced to life in prison. His wife is sentenced to 81 months.

    1980 – Harold Nicholson joins the CIA after serving in the United States Army.

    1982-1989 – Nicholson works for the CIA in the Philippines, Thailand and Japan.

    1992-1994 – Deputy Chief of Station/Operations Officer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

    June 1994-November 1996 – Provides Russian Intelligence with sensitive information.

    November 16, 1996 – Arrested at Dulles International Airport carrying classified CIA information.

    November 27, 1996 – Nicholson pleads not guilty.

    June 5, 1997 – He is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

    2008 – Nicholson’s son, Nathaniel, is arrested on charges he met with Russian agents to collect money owed to his father.

    January 18, 2011 – Harold Nicholson is sentenced to an additional eight years in prison on charges of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Nathaniel Nicholson is sentenced to five years probation.

    1965-1979 – Ronald Pelton works for the National Security Agency, with top-level security clearance.

    1979 – Pelton leaves the NSA due to financial problems.

    January 1980 – After declaring bankruptcy in 1979, Pelton begins spying for the Soviet Union. He discloses classified information on the United States’ ability to intercept Soviet communications.

    November 25, 1985 – After a KGB defector reveals his name, Pelton is arrested and charged with espionage.

    June 5, 1986 – He is convicted of spying.

    December 17, 1986 – Pelton is sentenced to three concurrent life sentences plus 10 years.

    November 24, 2015 – Pelton is released from prison.

    1983-1996 – Earl Edwin Pitts works at the FBI.

    1987-1992 – Pitts passes information on FBI operations to the Soviet Union and Russia.

    1995 – A Russian diplomat at the UN names Pitts as a former spy. FBI agents posing as Russian intelligence officers contact Pitts to attempt to lure him back to spying. Pitts delivers documents in exchange for $65,000.

    December 18, 1996 – Pitts is arrested. He is charged two days later with conspiring and attempting to commit espionage.

    February 28, 1997 – Pleads guilty. At the time, he is only the second agent in the FBI’s history to be found guilty of espionage.

    June 23, 1997 – He is sentenced to 27 years in prison.

    December 20, 2019 – Pitts is released from prison.

    1979 – Pollard is hired to work at the Navy Field Operational Intelligence Office. He had been rejected previously from employment at the CIA due to drug use. His specialty is North America and the Caribbean.

    June 1984 – He begins spying for Israel, passing on information on Arab countries. He earns $1,500-$2,500 a month.

    November 21, 1985 – Pollard is arrested outside the Israeli Embassy after his request for asylum is denied.

    June 4, 1986 – Pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit espionage.

    March 4, 1987 – US District Judge Aubrey Robinson Jr. rejects a plea agreement reached by federal prosecutors and Pollard. Instead, he sentences Pollard to life in prison. Pollard is the only person in US history to receive a life sentence for spying on behalf of a US ally. Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have rejected pleas for clemency.

    1995 – Israel grants Pollard citizenship.

    May 11, 1998 – Israel admits for the first time that Pollard was working as its agent.

    2002 – Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Pollard in prison.

    July 28, 2015 – Pollard’s attorney announces that Pollard has been granted parole and will be released in November.

    November 20, 2015 – Pollard is released on parole.

    November 20, 2020 – Pollard completes his parole. A month later Pollard and his wife arrive in Israel to start a new life.

    1969-1994 – George Trofimoff, a naturalized American citizen of Russian parentage, works as a civilian for the US Army at the Joint Interrogation Center in Nuremberg, Germany. He also attains the rank of colonel in the Army reserve.

    1994 – Trofimoff and a priest in the Russian Orthodox church, Igor Susemihl, are arrested in Germany on spying charges. The charges are later dropped.

    1994 – Retires and moves to South Florida.

    June 14, 2000 – Trofimoff is arrested. US Attorney Donna Bucella describes him as “the highest-ranking US military officer ever charged with espionage. He is accused of passing classified information on Soviet and Warsaw Pact military capabilities from 1969-1994. Allegedly, he received payment of over $250,000 during that time.

    June 27, 2001 – He is convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia. He is later sentenced to life in prison.

    September 19, 2014 – Trofimoff dies in prison.

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  • Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in Afghanistan

    Nonprofit donates custom home in this East Bay city for Marine injured in Afghanistan

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    BYRON – When Marine Sgt. Kyle Garcia stepped on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Sangin, Afghanistan, he knew exactly what hit him, but he had no idea how completely his life would change.

    “I knew instantly what happened,” the Marine scout sniper said. “I knew better than to look because I didn’t want to go into shock.”

    The East Bay native, then 23, lost his left leg and severely damaged his right leg in the 2011 blast.

    He would later be fitted with a prosthetic leg and undergo months of physical therapy at a base in Southern California. But transitioning to a new life, often bound to his wheelchair, would prove even more difficult. With nerve damage in his right leg, Garcia experienced weaknesses sometimes called “drop foot,” and once-simple tasks like getting on and off furniture, into the bathtub and climbing stairs became more of a challenge.

    “Most of my problems were wheelchair-related,” the now-35-year-old Garcia said.

    Medically retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia followed by his son Louis, 10, and his wife Crystal Garcia react as they walk in their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

    Life would soon get a lost easier though for Garcia, his wife Crystal and young son Louis, when he learned he would receive a new adapted custom home in East Contra Costa County through Homes for Our Troops, a national nonprofit that supports severely injured soldiers. He credits friends with the Wounded Warrior Project for encouraging him to apply for a HFOT home.

    On Saturday, the national nonprofit organization gave Garcia and his family something that will change their world: the keys to a mortgage-free, custom home in rural Byron with an open-floor plan that will make getting around the various rooms easy. Because it’s a single story, he will no longer have to make a difficult walk with his prosthesis up the stairs, as he does now in his Oakley rental home.

    The now-medically retired Marine, who grew up in Pinole, chose the Byron location, so he and his wife could be near family and enjoy the large, flat yard.

    “I was definitely excited when I heard (of the house gift), but you don’t want to get your hopes up… so you kind of tried to curb your expectations, because it seems so incredible,” he said.

    J.R. Wilson, president of the Delta Veterans Group, was there with others on Saturday and several weeks before that when he and other volunteers laid down sod and planted trees and bushes to landscape the yard of the rural home. Other volunteers have been building the four-bedroom house for the past year.

    “When I think of these kinds of projects, I always think of the veteran regaining their independence,” Wilson said. “Not only with independence, but with his ability to be a husband, and the father that he wants to be.”

    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, center, along with his wife, Crystal Garcia, left, their son Louis, 10, and Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer, take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony for their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, center, along with his wife, Crystal Garcia, left, their son Louis, 10, and Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer, take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony for their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

    In the past two decades, the HFOT nonprofit has built and donated more than 375 homes in 45 states, according to Bill Ivey, executive director, who said in the nonprofit’s most recent newsletter that “there are nearly 1,000 more severely injured post-9/11 veterans still in need of the secure and accessible homes they deserve.”

    Garcia said the homes give “veterans their dignity back.”

    His new residence features more than 40 major special adaptations, such as widened doorways for wheelchair access, a roll-in shower and kitchen amenities that include pull-down shelving and lowered countertops. The home will also alleviate the mobility and safety issues associated with a traditional home, including navigating a wheelchair through narrow hallways or over carpets, or reaching for cabinets that are too high.

    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia speaks during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia speaks during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

    Crystal Garcia, in a HFOT nonprofit video about the donation, said she was “excited” that her husband would be able to more easily get around. She secured a moving truck to come the day after they got the keys, so they could move in quickly, Kyle Garcia said.

    The nonprofit is able to donate the home to Garcia thanks to contributions from donors, supporters, and corporate partners, according to a spokesman for HFOT.

    Not surprisingly, the Garcias are grateful for their new home in Byron.

    Having a mortgage-free home “is huge for our family … it’s the No. 1 expense for almost all families,” Garcia said.

    Having completed his bachelor’s degree at San Francisco State and later law school in Missouri – all while still recuperating – Garcia has now begun work as an associate attorney in Pleasanton. With his house worries behind him, he is able to focus his energy on his family.

    “This is going to pretty much allow us to live here in the Bay Area,” he said of his new home. “And hopefully, when the time comes, I can afford to send my son to college on my own.”

    Homes for Our Troops has more than 81 active projects underway nationwide. To find out more on how to get involved or make a donation, visit www.hfotusa.org.

    Armed forces veterans, families and members of the community attend a special ceremony for medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Armed forces veterans, families and members of the community attend a special ceremony for medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer, left, shakes hands with medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer, left, shakes hands with medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, center, embraces the Quilt of Valor presented by Joan McClure, left, and her husband Jack McClure, right, during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, center, embraces the Quilt of Valor presented by Joan McClure, left, and her husband Jack McClure, right, during a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, left, is presented with a folded American flag for his service by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bill Webber, second from right, and Dennis Sikorski after a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, left, is presented with a folded American flag for his service by Veterans of Foreign Wars, Bill Webber, second from right, and Dennis Sikorski after a special ceremony honoring Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Armed forces veterans, families and members of the community attend a special ceremony for medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Armed forces veterans, families and members of the community attend a special ceremony for medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Veterans of Foreign Wars color guard stand during the national anthem during a special ceremony honoring Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Veterans of Foreign Wars color guard stand during the national anthem during a special ceremony honoring Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia at his newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Louis Garcia, 10, son of medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, looks at the adapted bathroom for his father as the Garcias check their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, bathroom, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Louis Garcia, 10, son of medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, looks at the adapted bathroom for his father as the Garcias check their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, bathroom, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, left, and his wife Crystal Garcia, right, in company of Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer look around their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia, left, and his wife Crystal Garcia, right, in company of Home for Our Troops president and CEO, Tom Landwermeyer look around their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia stands next to a poster featuring his photos before and after he lost his left leg in the line of duty as he and his wife Crystal Garcia and their son Louis, 10, look around their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
    Medical retired Marine Sergeant Kyle Garcia stands next to a poster featuring his photos before and after he lost his left leg in the line of duty as he and his wife Crystal Garcia and their son Louis, 10, look around their newly adapted home donated by the national nonprofit Home for Our Troops in Byron, Calif., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. Sgt. Garcia lost his left leg and sustained severe damage to his right leg when he stepped on an improvised explosive device during his third deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. Their new home comes with more than 40 adaptations, including lower countertops and roll-under sinks, etc. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) 

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    Judith Prieve

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