Modern War Heroes

DENVER – Lance Corporal John T. Doody is finally back home in Colorado. But it wasn’t an easy trip.

Doody was wounded in Iraq just three months after getting in-country. He was shot three times, one round shattering his leg another destroying the nerve to his foot.

But, that wasn’t the worst of his injuries. While recovering at the San Diego Naval Hospital, Doody contracted a bacterial mass that wound up lining his heart. The flakes from the mass broke up and went to his brain which triggered strokes leaving his speechless, blind and paralyzed.

J.T.’s rehab is going well, he can speak and raise his arm and even move the fingers on his left hand. Great progress for sure.

J.T.’s mother, Chris, says her son’s condition won’t allow for him live in his home town, but his biggest wish was to come home and say thank you to all his friends and family for all their support. That’s exactly what happened Wednesday night when around 200 friends, relatives, and fellow veterans greeted J.T. as he arrived at Denver International Airport.

“I am feeling much better now, in fact I feel like a million bucks,” said the Marine. “I am alive and still think I can make a difference in this world!”

John, let me tell you one thing, your sacrifice and service has already made a difference my friend. (source)

Wow, talk about perseverance in the face of some seriously bad luck. With that kind of positive attitude, I don’t think J.T. will have any trouble making a difference. In fact, he already has.

For many years, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) was just shoved under the rug and ignored. Men suffering from the disorder were just told to “man up”. But when soldiers return home from war, they often will be suffering from any number of mental issues. This soldier, Johnson Beharry, speaks up for these people, and calls for help for them and their families.

The army’s most decorated serving war hero today claimed the government was failing to care for soldiers with mental trauma caused by combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for saving the lives of comrades during two ambushes in Iraq, said it was “disgraceful” that some veterans were not getting the treatment they needed.

He told the Independent that the government had not done enough to help soldiers suffering from severe combat stress, depression and mental breakdowns.

Beharry said military charities were being used to patch up holes in soldiers’ care.

“These are people who have served this country. Why can’t they get treatment? I don’t think the government is doing enough for soldiers,” he said.

Read the rest of the article.

It was a miserable existence all winter long some six decades ago as Morris N. Bishop was among the Allied forces fighting the Germans, hunkering in a freezing foxhole in the mountains of Italy.

Then, when the Army sergeant returned home from World War II in full uniform, he couldn’t even buy a hot dog in Washington.

It was 1946, the U.S. was still widely segregated, and Bishop is black.

A member of the only all-black infantry division in Europe, the 92nd, or “Buffalo” division, Bishop at 21 was deployed to the front lines, where he sprayed machine gun fire toward entrenched enemy lines in August 1944. There he stayed until the following May, when the war ended in Europe.

On Monday, his 86th birthday, Bishop finally got the recognition that was coming to him for his service when city and state officials and the Army honored him as he was presented the Army’s Bronze Star medal, reserved for those who show bravery in combat. Read on…

Morris Bishop didn’t originally think that receiving this medal was necessary, but later changed his mind and accepted it in honor of his fellow soldiers.

“It gets me sentimental, when I think about the buddies that I lost,” he said after the ceremony, noting that most of his comrades were either wounded or killed in the war. “Some of them were very good friends.”

Bishop certainly earned his Bronze Star. Personally I think that he not only was amazingly brave facing the German forces in Italy, but coming home and having to face the racism directed towards him. All of our returning soldiers deserved respect and freedom to enjoy what they could of their lives after having lived in such hellish conditions in war torn Europe.

Senator Brian X. Foley is a big proponent of a bill that would help our veterans and their spouses in today’s shaky housing market. This bill would give Suffolk County, NY government the power to waive interest payments, penalties, and fees owed on foreclosures. This bill isn’t signed yet, but hopefully Gov. David Paterson can find it in his heart to pass this one.

Foley is also pushing for a similar bill that would include the entire state. This bill would certainly be a godsend for many military families. Our soldiers put their lives on the line everyday they are in the field, and it certainly seem like the government back home could show their appreciation more. This bill would be one good way to do that. If only we could get this legislation to cover all of the US, and not just Suffolk County or only the State of New York.

Read here for more information on this new bill.