This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Jonn Lilyea

  • Alene Duerk passes

    Alene Duerk passes

    The Naval History and Heritage Command passes on the sad news that Alene Duerk, the first female admiral of the US Navy has passed at the age of 98 years on July 21, 2018;

    Her first tours of duty included ward nurse at Naval Hospital Portsmouth in Virginia, Naval Hospital Bethesda in Maryland, and sea service aboard the Navy hospital ship, USS Benevolence (AH 13), in 1945. While anchored off the coast of Eniwetok, Duerk and the crew of the Benevolence would attend to the sick and wounded being brought back from the Third Fleet’s operations against Japan.

    Upon cessation of hostilities on Sept. 2, 1945, Duerk and the Benevolence crew took on the task of repatriating liberated Allied prisoners of war, an endeavor that solidified her commitment to nursing and patient care.

    Years later, when asked about her service for the Library of Congress’ Veteran’s History Project, Duerk said, “The time I was aboard the hospital ship and we took the prisoners of war, that was something I will never forget . . . that was the most exciting experience of my whole career.”

    Thereafter, Duerk was assigned to Naval Hospital Great Lakes until being released from active service in 1946.

    In 1951, Duerk returned to active duty serving as a nursing instructor at the Naval Hospital Corps School in Portsmouth, Va. and later as inter-service education coordinator at the Naval Hospital Philadelphia, Penn.

    Her skills in ward management, surgical nursing and mentoring would be put to use over the next two decades while serving at hospitals in San Diego; and Yokosuka, Japan; at the Recruiting Station in Chicago; and in Wash., D.C.

    In May 1970, following assignments as assistant for Nurse Recruitment in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) and assistant head of Medical Placement Liaison (Nurse Corps) at the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Duerk was appointed director of the Navy Nurse Corps.

    Over the next five years, Duerk provided direction for the Nurse Corps, updating policies affecting Navy Medicine and expanding the sphere of nursing into ambulatory care, anesthesia, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology.

    Her selection to the rank of rear admiral was approved by President Richard Nixon on April 26, 1972. The first woman to be selected for flag rank, she was advanced on June 1, 1972.

    Rear Adm. Duerk retired in 1975, but remained a strong advocate for Navy nursing through the remainder of her life.

  • Capt. Christopher Anderson saving the world

    Capt. Christopher Anderson saving the world

    AW1Ed sends a link to the story of US Army Captain Christopher Anderson, the company commander of the Dearborn Army Recruiting Company, who spotted an SUV that hit a parked car. The driver was unresponsive when Anderson stopped to investigate and the captain smelled smoke;

    Anderson grabbed the driver from behind, and a bystander grabbed the driver’s feet to help get the driver away from the car.

    “I knew I had to do CPR, but I also needed a tempo for the compressions,” Anderson said.

    Anderson remembered what his instructor had told him from his Army CLS course. He was told the tempo of the song ‘Staying Alive’ is pretty close to how fast CPR compressions are supposed to be administered.

    “So I asked this kid who was standing close by to find the song ‘Staying Alive’ on his cell phone,” Anderson said. “Once the song started, I focused on matching my compressions to the beat.”

    The driver groaned and gasped for air as Anderson began CPR. While Anderson was doing compressions, the driver’s gasping became more frequent, which meant the driver was breathing more air.

    “I felt as if he was still fighting to stay alive,” Anderson said. “He just couldn’t breathe, but he was trying.”

    An older gentleman, who also knew CPR, assisted Anderson.

    Rescue workers arrived on the scene and used a defibrillator on the victim. They told Anderson that the casualty had a pulse by the time they sent off to the hospital.

    From the Army Times;

    “I don’t want to be called a hero,” Anderson said about his actions on June 12, according to TRADOC. “I stopped to help because it was the right thing to do — not just as a soldier, but as a good human being.”

  • Navy corpsman Devon Rideout ambushed

    Navy corpsman Devon Rideout ambushed

    Stars & Stripes recounts the story of 24-year-old Navy corpsman Devon Rideout who was ambushed and shot to death last Friday in Oceanside, California by a former Marine, Eduardo Arriola, who was her neighbor.

    Arriola went AWOL to Mexico during his time in the Marine Corps and was discharged as a result. The aircraft technician had never been deployed.

    [Deputy District Attorney Keith] Watanabe said Tuesday that Arriola had deserted the military in 2016, fleeing to Mexico. In 2017, he returned to the United States, turned himself in and was arrested by the military, the prosecutor said.

    He also said Arriola’s diagnosis of schizophrenia was made after his return from Mexico.

    It was not immediately clear how he was able to purchase a gun legally in California in May. Watanabe said the gun dealer did not have access to military records.

    He said it appeared that Arriola lied on the application, which asks if the buyer has been diagnosed with a mental illness. “We don’t believe he would have been allowed to purchase a firearm had those questions been answered truthfully,” the prosecutor said.

    Oh, goodness, a crackpot was able to lie on his ATF Form 4473? Who knew that could happen? In California?

    On the afternoon of the shooting, Rideout had just arrived home from work at the hospital at Camp Pendleton. Still wearing her uniform, she started to take her puppy for a walk when she was ambushed steps from her front door, Watanabe said.

    The assailant emptied a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson five-shot revolver, shooting Rideout three times in the chest and twice in the head. As she struggled through her last breaths, the gunman prevented bystanders from helping her, the prosecutor said.

    Arriola claimed that Rideout was trespassing.

  • Justin Bloomfield phony SEAL

    Justin Bloomfield phony SEAL

    Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this Justin Bloomfield fellow from Hereford, Arizona. Justin claims to be a former Navy SEAL, a second generation frog man who likes hideous hats and shirts;

    He also likes to play dress-up on Veterans’ Day to get a free meal;

    The US Navy has never heard of him, though;

    Goofy-looking turd;

  • Wednesday morning feel good stories

    Wednesday morning feel good stories

    From St Pauls, North Carolina;

    The 68-year-old homeowner told investigators that when she arrived home she heard a noise coming from inside of her storage building, Thompson said. She walked out to the building, opened the door and found [James] Dority inside standing in a corner.

    The homeowner told investigators that “he was lunging toward her” in an aggressive manner, which prompted her to open fire, shooting Dority five times, Thompson said. The name of the homeowner is not being released at this time.

    Thompson did not say if charges had been filed against Dority or the homeowner.

    From South Bend, Indiana;

    Police arrested 20-year-old Robert Baker Monday.

    They say Baker and another man broke into a home on North Illinois Street and started shooting.

    One of the victims shot back and both of the suspects ran away.

    Less than an hour later police say Baker walked into the hospital with a gun shot wound.

    Right now, police are still looking for the second suspect.

    From St Louis, Missouri;

    St. Louis police say a burglary suspect is dead after being shot by a man in the home that was victimized.

    The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the shooting happened around 3 a.m. Monday. Four people told police they were inside the home when a man kicked in the bottom of a locked door and climbed through. Police say a 21-year-old man shot the intruder, identified as 43-year-old Maurice Pollard.

    Pollard was pronounced dead at a hospital. None of the people inside the home were hurt.

    From Ohio County, West Virginia;

    After a man showed a gun to a clerk in Ohio County on Monday night, the clerk fought back.

    Ohio county sheriff Tom Howard says it happened at the First and Last Shot Cantina on National Road in Triadelphia.

    They say a man walked up to the door and showed the clerk a gun. The clerk then pulled out a weapon, and the robber then ran.

    Sheriff’s deputies say K-9s tracked the suspect into a creek, and then police discovered he had parked at Wanda’s Bargain Barn just down the road.

    They have surveillance video and are hoping to release more details later.

  • Faisal Hussain; Toronto gunman

    Faisal Hussain; Toronto gunman

    Toronto police are trying to ascertain why 29-year-old Faisal Hussain opened fire on folks at cafes in the Canadian city, according to Yahoo News;

    Investigators are digging into the life of a 29-year-old man trying to explain what prompted him to fire a handgun into restaurants and cafes in a lively Toronto neighborhood, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman and wounding 13 others.

    The family of Faisal Hussain, who died during an exchange of gunfire with police, said Monday that he had long suffered from psychosis and depression but they never imagined this would be his fate. It was not immediately clear whether he took his own life or was killed by police during the rampage Sunday night.

    CBC reports that a series of tragedies in his family might be responsible for his horrid attack;

    “Our hearts are in pieces for the victims and for our city as we all come to grips with this terrible tragedy,” the family said in a statement, citing their son’s “horrific actions.”

    Where or how Hussain could have obtained a gun remains a mystery to the family friends and neighbours who spoke with CBC News.

    For his part, [family friend, Aamir] Sukhera said he’s struggling to reconcile the memory of the smiling, polite, quiet young man he mentored with the image of a gunman, clad in black garb, shooting coldly through windows where innocent people were enjoying a warm summer evening.

    “I want to believe it wasn’t him.”

    Just because you outlaw guns, that doesn’t mean that people with evil intent can’t get their hands on one.

  • Benjamin Eric Williams; phony SEAL

    Benjamin Eric Williams; phony SEAL

    Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this fellow Benjamin Eric Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. These are pictures from his wedding – he wore the SEAL Trident and the badge for SEAL Team Four;

    The Navy remembers his time with them differently;

    Based off of Benjamin’s DD-214 it shows that he served on active duty in the US Navy for 3 years, 11 months, 29 days (2008-2012) and was discharged as an AM3 (E-4) Aviation Structural Mechanic. Benjamin received a few medals/ribbons and was stationed at Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Seven in Norfolk, VA. After 2006 the SEAL Teams obtained their own rate Special Warfare Operator (SO). Benjamin did NOT attend BUD/S, did NOT receive the SO rate, was NOT stationed at a SEAL Team and was NOT a SEAL. Looks like he’ll have some explaining to do to his newlywed.

  • Clifford Gregory; phony SEAL

    Clifford Gregory; phony SEAL

    Someone sent us their work on this fellow Clifford Gregory from Ocean City, Maryland who claims he’s a Navy SEAL. Who else do we know from Ocean City who claims he’s a SEAL? That’s right, Joe Cryer;

    Yeah, Cliff and Joe vouching for each other. But Cliff is the real bad ass;

    The National Personnel Records Center and the Navy ask “Who?”

    Well, there are records that exist that the NPRC doesn’t have;