Tag: Milbloggin'

Funeral For Unclaimed Remains Of Veterans Held In Fort Smith

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KFSM:

Five veterans and a spouse of a veteran finally got the burial they deserved Friday, March 4, after their cremains went unclaimed for years.

Three WWII veterans, a Korean War veteran, a Vietnam War veteran, and the wife of a WWII veteran were all finally laid to rest. 

Gina Gustafson with the ‘Missing in America Project’ arranged the service after finding the unclaimed cremains at a fort smith funeral home. The organization’s mission is to find all remains of veterans across the country and give them proper burials. 

“I just like to see the respect that people have for the Veterans. There are so many people that have no respect for anything anymore, let alone for Veterans. It’s just so important and it just warms my heart completely,” she said. 

Trucker Convoy Heads For DC As Pentagon OKs Request To Deploy National Guard

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New York Post:

A convoy of truckers opposed to COVID-19 mandates set off on a planned cross-country drive from Southern California to the Washington DC area Wednesday as the Pentagon approved a request to deploy approximately 700 unarmed National Guard troops ahead of the group’s expected arrival.

About two dozen trucks and a number of other vehicles hit the road from the Mojave Desert town of Adelanto as part of a self-proclaimed “People’s Convoy.”

Organizers said in a statement that they planned to undertake a “100% safe, lawful and peaceful” journey that would “terminate in the vicinity of the DC area, but will NOT be going into DC proper.”

Arrival was scheduled for March 5, but some participants are expected to arrive in the Washington area in time for President Biden’s March 1 State of the Union address to Congress.

Volunteers Prepare Care Packages For USS Tulsa Crews

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News On 6:

The crew of the USS Tulsa will get care packages thanks to volunteers in Broken Arrow.

The Broken Arrow Chapter of the Blue Star Mothers and local girl scouts packed up the bags Tuesday night.

Something so simple to us at home can have a huge impact on a service member.

The care packs are full of those little items worth so much to those receiving them.

“We’ve run into people on the street, ‘Oh you’re a Broken Arrow Blue Star Mother. I got a package from you, thank you,'” said Janet Viel, Blue Star Mother’s Chapter President in Broken Arrow.

“These are your babies, and when we ship these care packages, my son’s name may not be on that list right now, but they’re all our children. They’re America’s children.”

The packages will be sent out early Friday morning so they can make it to the crew before they ship out.

5 Unclaimed Veterans To Be Buried At Fort Smith Cemetery

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KNWA:

The “Missing in America Project” recovery program announced five veterans and one spouse will be laid to rest in Fort Smith at the National Cemetery next week on March 4.

According to a press release, the Arkansas Missing in America Project with the assistance of SADA Arkansas and Edwards Funeral Home, will honor and inter the cremains of the veterans.

The veterans being interred served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam according to the release. The ceremony will include military honors, last roll call, and more before the veterans reach their final resting place.

The release notes the MIAP has interred more than 5,700 veterans across the U.S. Their focus is to locate, identify, and inter the unclaimed remains of American remains.

The event will begin at 11 a.m. at the cemetery, located at 522 Garland Ave. in Fort Smith, Ark.

National Guard Patrolling Arkansas Highways To Assist Motorists

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KAIT:

With treacherous travel expected with the arrival of wintry weather, Arkansas State Police has called up the National Guard to assist motorists.

According to a Wednesday news release, more than 80 Arkansas National Guardsmen will patrol state highways and interstates to assist stranded motorists.

“One winter storm support truck team consists of five Guardsmen and two Humvees, plus communications,” said Bob Oldham with ANG. “Two teams are assigned to each Arkansas State Police troop.”

He added that guardsmen will work 12-hour shifts to provide around-the-clock patrols until the weather improves and there are relieved of their duties.

See also: Fort Smith Weather: Sleet, Winter Storm Roll Into The Arkansas River Valley

US Navy Plans Launch Of Mideast Drone Force Alongside Allies

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Military News:

The U.S. Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet announced Monday the launch of a new joint fleet of unmanned drones with allied nations to patrol vast swaths of the region’s volatile waters as tensions simmer with Iran.

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads the 5th Fleet, told The Associated Press that 100 unmanned drones, both sailing and submersible, would dramatically multiply the surveillance capacities of the U.S. Navy, allowing it to keep a close eye on waters critical to the flow of the global oil and shipping. Trade at sea has been targeted in recent years as Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers collapsed.

“By using unmanned systems, we can just simply see more. They’re high-reliability and remove the human factor,” Cooper said on the sidelines of a defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, adding the systems are “the only way to cover on whatever gaps that we have today.”

Cooper said he hopes the drone force using artificial intelligence would be operational by the summer of 2023 to put more “eyes and ears on the water.”

The Bahrain-based 5th Fleet includes the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil passes. It also stretches as far as the Red Sea reaches near the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt linking the Mideast to the Mediterranean, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.

March At Chaffee Crossing For Veteran Suicide Awareness

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Southwest Times Record:

Operation Tears of the 22 will host its first “Weight of My Brother Ruck March” in the Chaffee Crossing historic district on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The event will raise funds for the Mission Critical retreat that will be held in August for veterans and their families, while raising awareness of veteran suicides. Veterans and other participants will march 22 kilometers carrying 22-pound rucksacks to represent the 22 veterans that take their own lives each day.

“We need help letting as many people as we can know about this problem that we face with our veterans. We want to get more community involvement to help us lower the 22 a day that we lose. Please help us save our veterans,” stated retired U.S. Army Sgt. Matt Gillespie, founder of Operation Tears of the 22.

Onsite registration will be held from 8-9 a.m Tuesday and the march will begin at 9 a.m. in the parking lot next to Fort Smith Brewing Co., 7500 Fort Chaffee Blvd. Registration is $10 for veterans and $20 for nonveterans.

The public is invited to line up along Fort Chaffee Boulevard from Taylor Avenue to Mahogany Avenue in Barling to show their support for the marchers.

Oklahoma Bill To Allow Research On Chemical In “Magic Mushrooms” To Help Veterans Cope With PTSD

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KFOR:

House Bill 3414 is striving to save the lives of veterans suffering with PTSD by allowing Oklahoma research centers to study the therapeutic effects of psilocybin, which is the active ingredient in “magic mushrooms.”

“It’s a game changer,” said Rep. Logan Philips of district 24, and a coauthor of the bill. “We’re talking waking up going to bed with ideas of wanting to kill yourself, waking up with them being gone. It is a light switch.”

The bill would allow Oklahoma universities to conduct clinical trials on the drug, and would “provide certain exemptions from criminal and civil penalties.”

Rep. Phillips said the bill is of the “utmost importance” because according to him, the suicide rate in Oklahoma’s veteran community is “astronomical.”

He believes psilocybin could be the answer to significantly decreasing that rate. A veteran himself, Rep. Phillips said he can relate to the struggles veterans face and wants to do all he can to help them.

Arkansas Leaders Excited For Pilot Training Center In Fort Smith

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KNWA:

Fort Smith Board of Directors passed a resolution Tuesday expressing their support for the foreign service pilot training center planned for the Ebbing Air National Guard Base.

Rep. Steve Womack said the program will be huge for the River Valley and the Natural State. He said an environmental study is taking place currently.

“Right now we are just the preferred site so we got to get through the environmental once it becomes final and we are the designated site then all of those other processes can take shape,” Womack said.

Fort Smith Director Neal Martin said the program will bring lots of money into the region.

“This project we are talking about here is gong to have an economic impact up to a billion dollars a year,” Martin said.

It is also expected to bring in hundreds of jobs to Fort Smith. Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said she is looking forward to the possibility of the center.

Could The Supreme Court Strike Down The Military’s Vaccination Mandate?

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Military Times:

More than 60 service members have joined lawsuits against the U.S. government, alleging that the military’s process for awarding religious vaccine exemptions is a sham.

They argue that their 1st Amendment rights are being infringed upon, because their sincerely held religious beliefs prevent them from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Through much prayer and reflection, Plaintiffs have sought wisdom, understanding, and guidance on the proper decisions to make concerning these COVID-19 vaccines, and Plaintiffs have been convicted by the Holy Spirit that accepting any of the three currently available vaccines is against the teachings of Scripture and would be a sin,” according to a Florida lawsuit first filed in late 2021, then amended on Feb. 7 with additional plaintiffs.

The lawsuit is one of two that have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the military has imposed mandatory vaccination deadlines that have since lapsed for all of the services and their components, save the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

The goal, representatives for the plaintiffs say, is to at least secure religious exemptions for their clients, but potentially see a Supreme Court ruling that would apply to all service members.

Guard Members Named In Oklahoma’s New Version Of Lawsuit Opposing Vaccine Mandate

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The Oklahoman:

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor named 10 members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as he filed an amended lawsuit Tuesday challenging federal vaccine mandates.

The 10 don’t want the vaccine, with three raising religious and secular reasons, according to the new filing. One refusing the vaccine is a physician — an anesthesiologist in Tulsa.

The suit says the Guard members “are patriots who always have given of themselves to their Country and their State; and are now at risk of being turned out of their jobs because they do not wish to take the vaccine.

Oklahoma No. 1 In Nation For Veterans To Receive Service-Connected Disability Benefits

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KTUL:

Oklahoma is number one in the country for veterans, per capita, to receive federal, service-connected disability benefits, according to the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.

“We have an amazing veterans community here in Oklahoma and this could not have been accomplished without all the veteran service organizations banding together as a team and working really hard to achieve this,” said Joel Kintsel, the executive director of ODVA.

Out of about 300,000 veterans in Oklahoma, 100,000 veterans have some level of a service-connected disability.

Ruck March At Chaffee Crossing Will Help Bring Awareness To Veteran Suicide

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KNWA:

Operation Tears of the 22 announced it is hosting its first “Weight of My Brother 22k Ruck March” in the Chaffee Crossing Historic District on February 22.

According to a news release from Operation Tears of the 22, the ruck march is planned to help raise awareness and prevention of the 22 veterans who take their lives each day.

The release says the event is a ruck march around Chaffee Crossing. Veterans and other participants will be marching 22 km. carrying 22 lb. rucksacks.

Onsite registration is from 8-9 a.m. The ruck march will start at 9 a.m. in the parking lot next to Fort Smith Brewing Company, 7500 Fort Chaffee Boulevard.

Hundreds Clean Headstones At Fort Smith Cemetery

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KNWA:

Hundreds volunteered to clean headstones at the Fort Smith National Cemetery Tuesday, Feb. 15 after a Feb. 9 grass fire left them charred from the flames.

Volunteers used their own brushes with plastic bristles and the cemetery provided buckets and approved cleaner.

The Greenwood Fire Department shared photos of the scene on its Facebook page and noted among those assisting included the Fort Smith Fire Department and Fort Smith Emergency Medical Services, as well as hundreds of military personnel.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Oklahoma Senate Committee Shoots Down Proposal To Form State Militia Solely Under Governor’s Control

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KRMG:

The push to raise a state militia in Oklahoma has hit a major setback.

On Friday, Republicans in the Oklahoma Senate Veterans Committee turned down the idea. The bill’s author said he’ll keep fighting.

Each state has a National Guard, which works under both state and federal control. Some states also have smaller state guards, who work under each state’s governor. Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said it’s time for Oklahoma to organize a state guard again.

His proposal would set up an Oklahoma State Guard, under the control of someone appointed by the governor. Counties would organize volunteer units across the state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing something similar there.

UAFS Honors Space Force At Campus Ceremony

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KNWA:

The Student Veterans Organization posted the Space Force flag at a ceremony on campus on February 9 in honor of the newest branch of the U.S. Military.

President and Treasurer James Moore says the ceremony is a big deal and is excited for the future of Space Force.

“I’m very excited to see what direction that they’ll be going in the future, as far as what addition to the protection of our satellites and communications,” said UAFS President and Treasurer of Student Veterans Organization James Moore.

Grass Fire Damages Headstones At Fort Smith National Cemetery

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KFSM:

Officials are investigating a grass fire that caused damage to rows of headstones at the Fort Smith National Cemetery.

The Fort Smith Fire Department says at this time, the cause is “undetermined.” Officials with the department say that there will not be a further investigation unless any additional information comes forward. 

They say at this time, there are no signs that the fire was set intentionally.