Interesting story on military.com about an Army Reservist in Utah who was sentenced to five months in prison for wearing medals he didn’t earn and telling tall tales about his previous service. His BS apparently helped him get a promotion to Major before he was found out.

You can see the story HERE.

This guy has taken it to the extreme, but I think most of us have known vets or people claiming to be vets who spin stories about military exploits that never happened or didn’t really happen the way they were told.

A couple of years ago my friend and colleague Phil Reisman wrote about a local WWII vet who told a vivid story about his experience at Iwo Jima that turned out to be fantasy.  Here’s that column.

In both of these cases the guys telling the lies really did serve in combat. How sad that they felt a need to embellish records they should have been proud of.

Added 2/22: Here’s the link to Sarah Netter’s story about this event in today’s Journal News.

I must have jinxed myself with yesterday’s post about breaking news, but I just manage to get to Rep. Nita Lowey’s press conference on veteran health care benefits. We’ll have the story at 6 p.m. on RNN-TV (Channel 19 or 20 for local viewers) and in tomorrow’s Journal News, but here’s an advance scoop for you savvy blog readers out there.

Before an audience that included Rockland County veterans who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, Lowey said she will fight to get the VA health care system to restore eligibility for Priority 8 veterans.

In a nutshell: in 2003, the VA system cut costs by making Priority 8 veterans – those with no service-related disabilities and with incomes above about $40,000 – ineligible for VA medical coverage. Lowey argues this hurts troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who do not realize they have to claim a disability to get benefits; Jerry Donnellan, director of the Rockland County Veterans Services Agency, added that it also hurts older veterans who were counting on VA insurance once they retired from their jobs but now find out Read more of this entry »

Sen. John McCain spent more than five years as a POW during the Vietnam War. I’m sure I’m not the only one who think of this whenever he faces a particularly ugly political situation, for example, those ridiculous allegations during the 2000 South Carolina primary that he had fathered “a black baby” – really his adopted Bangladeshi daughter! Today, the Republican presidential frontrunner fights a new battle: challenging a New York Times story suggesting he had an affair with lobbyist Vicki Iseman during his last presidential campaign.

McCain’s campaign flat-out denies the relationship, and the Navy veteran will personally respond also denied the rumors during a press conference this morning. I wonder what kind of support he’ll get from fellow veterans during Read more of this entry »

My best friend from my Army days just called me, out of the blue. We met at the Defense Information School in 1977, when it was still in Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind. Graduates were jokingly referred to as DINFOS trained killers or Chairborne Rangers.

We were both 18 at the time, away from home for the first time. In between being homesick, we had a blast.

We’ve kept in touch and remained close over the years, through marriages, divorces, kids, mortgages and the rest of what life brings. It’s funny to me that we’re both now 50, but when we talk it’s like we’re still 18. We always bring up crazy things we did back then. We laugh a lot.

I bring this up because I noticed that some of you are posting sites that help veterans find old buddies. I’m going to compile a list of my own and post it in the next couple of days. I think it’s well worth the effort. We’d love to hear from any of you who have kept up with old friends since you left the service, recently found one or are still trying. What is it about our friends from the military that’s different than the friendships we’ve made as civilians?

Fresh from her own hospital stay, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Harrison) is calling for improved health care for veterans. (Click on that link to read the press release.) She and 39 other U.S. representatives want the Secretary of Veterans Affairs report back within 90 days on steps taken to improve the quality of care at veterans’ health facilities.

“It has been a full year since The Washington Post exposed the neglect and deplorable conditions to which injured veterans were subjected at Walter Reed,� she said, in the press release. “After having sacrificed their health and safety for us, veterans deserve to know what steps have been taken in the past year to ensure they receive the care they deserve.�

On a related note, the congresswoman will hold a press conference calling for “1.6 million veterans nationwide to regain access to health care services” at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 21, at the VMA Hall in Congers, Rockland County. All veterans and interested members of the public are encouraged to attend. The hall is next to the Congers Firehouse, at 64 Lake Rd.

I’ll try to get across the Tappan Zee Bridge tomorrow morning, barring any breaking news here in Westchester, so check back here later for my take on the event. In the meantime, I’d love to hear Read more of this entry »

As we get this blog rolling (scrolling?), we’d also like to link to other Web sites about veterans affairs and military issues. Send us your favorite sites, and we’ll make sure to link to them. (Hint: Words that appear in a different color in our blog entries can usually be clicked on to visit a related site.)

We’ll also let you know about any new sites as we hear about them. Check out this one from the County of Rockland Veterans, just launched this week, like At Ease!

Aurelio Orlandini, the group’s service officer and a Vietnam veteran, said the site – like our blog – is still Read more of this entry »

As you can see, this is The Journal News/LoHud.com’s new online forum for Lower Hudson Valley veterans, their families and friends. Every day, Rich Liebson and I will post information about events and issues pertaining to veterans affairs, and we hope you’ll also post comments, questions, and suggestions of your own.

This blog is also a place where we can talk about current military issues, such as today’s Journal News story about the 812th Military Police Company of the Army Reserve, based in Orangeburg, getting ready to deploy to Iraq. If you know of any Westchester, Putnam or Rockland residents serving overseas, we’d love to hear about or from them.

P.S. You can post the first comment on a blog entry by Read more of this entry »

Greetings, fellow veterans!

Welcome to “At Ease!’’ the new blog for former service members.

I grew up as a military brat, did a four-year hitch in the Army and have been a reporter for more than 20 years, but when it comes to blogging I’m a raw “newbie” recruit. I know there are all kinds of bells and whistles – photos, video, audio – that you can include in these things, but I have no clue how to do any of that yet.

My colleague and co-contributor, Nicole Neroulias, is an experienced blogger, so I’m just going to look at her as my drill sergeant for the next few weeks while I learn all this stuff.

I hope this becomes a place where all of us who spent time marching, saluting, peeling spuds and taking orders can swap a few stories, talk about how the military affected us, discuss veterans issues and share info on benefits, local veterans events and whatever else might be on your minds.

This is all new right now, but send us your questions, suggestions, objections and reflections and let’s see what it turns into. Thanks.