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Category: Veterans in the news

  • Tina Cummings; daughter of the year

    Tina Cummings; daughter of the year

    Chief Tango sends us links to the story of 55 year-old Tina M. Cummings in Plattsburgh, New York who hid the fact that her 91-year-old father, Ralph F. Tefft, a retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant, had died about three months ago so she could continue receiving his pension checks;

    Her father, 91-year-old Ralph F. Tefft, had been dead for three months before a welfare check by Clinton County Adult Protective Services revealed his remains under several blankets on a daybed in his home, State Police Capt. Robert LaFountain said.

    Tina Cummings is led into the back of a police car by a New York State Police officer after her arraignment at Plattsburgh Town Court Tuesday evening.

    During that time, between Feb. 1 and May 3, he said, “State Police established Cummings received $4,647.20 in Social Security benefits and $15,065.13 in veterans retirement benefits,” he said, “all belonging to Tefft, which were directly deposited into a bank account that Cummings had access to.”

    The extensive financial investigation was done in conjunction with District Attorney Andrew Wylie and required issuance of subpoenas, LaFountain said.

    Cummings lived with her father and was his primary caregiver.

    The coroner says that beyond reporting the death, there is no evidence of wrongdoing, that he died of old-age.

    From the Press-Republican;

    Tefft was a veteran whose military career included service in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Air Corps, U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

    He enlisted near the end of World War II, then served in the Korean War and Vietnam War.

    In 1976, he retired as a senior master sergeant in the Air Force. Tefft belonged to American Legion posts 20 and 1619 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 309.

    I would hope that his AL and VFW posts would see to his honors and final rest.

  • Dane Powell sentenced for Inauguration Day rioting

    Dane Powell sentenced for Inauguration Day rioting

    According to Fox News, Dane Powell was sentenced to four months in jail for his part in riots in the nation’s capital on Inauguration Day;

    Dane Powell, 31, was captured on video carrying a black flag while throwing rocks and bricks at D.C. police officers and shattering store windows during the 30-minute riot that spanned 16 city blocks, prosecutors said. He was also dressed in black and had part of his face covered.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff said Powell was spotted in Logan Circle the day before President Trump’s inauguration with gas masks and carrying the same black flag seen in the video, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

    “He initiated violence,” Kerkhoff said. “He came to the District of Columbia to engage in violence by hiding his face, throwing rocks and running. He’s a violent coward.”

    Kerkhoff called Powell “among the most violent” of the defendants that participated in the riot.

    “He was throwing rocks and bricks at windows where people, customers and children were inside,” she said. “He charged the police line with bricks.”

    His LinkedIn profile says that he is an Army veteran and that he was stationed in Japan, Germany and Fort Drum as a Computer and Information Systems Manager.

    Powell asked for leniency from the court. He asked for “forgiveness for anyone who was scared, hurt or felt threatened.” His lawyer claimed that he came to DC to protest peacefully, but then he didn’t – “He got carried away”. Six police officers were injured during the rioting and 234 stank-ass hippies were arrested.

  • VFW helps widow recover her husband’s due

    VFW helps widow recover her husband’s due

    Adelore Palmiter was a veteran of World War II and a survivor of the sinking of the USS INDIANAPOLIS (one of the 317 who survived from the crew of 1,197). You probably know the story of the INDIANAPOLIS and the horror that the survivors witnessed. Adelore was an 18-year-old sailor at the time, but he never thought that he was owed any benefits from the Veterans’ Affairs Department until his later years – the process of recalling the event proved too traumatic for him, though.

    From the VFW;

    [Paul Pirlot, state director of the VFW Detroit Service Office in Michigan] said, “The second attempt was completed after we contacted him several years later. Sadly, he passed away before a decision was made.”

    Realizing Adelore had a surviving widow, the VFW Department of Michigan Service Office pressed ahead.

    “Several roadblocks had to be navigated. The process was not easy, and we worked with VA offices in both Detroit and Washington D.C., as well as a VA congressional liaison,” Pirlot continued.

    “Everyone worked tirelessly and passionately to ensure that Mrs. Palmiter received the maximum benefits allowed by the law.”

    As a result of these efforts, Wilma Palmiter was awarded monthly Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, accrued benefits and service-connected burial benefits.

    That’s what VSOs are there for. My compliments to the VFW for not allowing this widow to fall by the wayside which would have been easy since she suffers from dementia and her husband had passed away. The VSOs are more than a cheap barroom packed with war story-telling pensioners. They are our voice in the halls of Congress and state legislatures and our advocates to the bureaucracy.

  • Chong Hwan Kim; vet targeted by ICE

    Mark sends us a link to the story of Chong Hwan Kim, a legal immigrant from South Korea and a US veteran of the Iraq War who has been arrested in Portland, Oregon for attempted arson and, as a result, is being held by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while his immigration status is investigated. He immigrated with a green card when he was 5 years old, he served in the Army, and now this felony charge;

    Records show Kim has been arrested on several charges, including a mixture of felonies and misdemeanors, over the last 5 years. In 2016, he was convicted of attempted arson and possession of a destructive device.

    Meyers said he knows about Kim’s criminal record, but said his friend has been working to clean up his act for some time now.

    “We don’t leave anyone behind,” Meyers said. “Chong put his life on the line, he put himself in danger to sacrifice for our country. Regardless of maybe having a few issues here and there, we can stand behind him and help him in his recovery.”

    Kim’s father said a judge told his son, if he kept getting into trouble with the law, his immigration status could be in jeopardy. Now his family is worried about what could happen if gets deported back to South Korea where he is unfamiliar with the language, the country and its people.

    I don’t really have an opinion on the subject – I don’t like criminals and the claim that he has been “working to clean up his act” is too familiar. While I commend his service to his adopted country, his behavior since that service hasn’t exactly been worthy of his own sacrifice. Being a veteran doesn’t insulate you from answering for your bad behavior.

    His buddy, Navy veteran Jordan Meyers, blames his bad behavior on PTSD, but PTSD doesn’t normally display itself in criminal behavior. If being in the US was so important to Kim, he should have applied for naturalization.

    Besides, being deported to South Korea isn’t like being deported to El Salvador.

  • Traffic stop leads to Tuskegee hero’s bust

    Traffic stop leads to Tuskegee hero’s bust

    Back in April, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Daniel Lopez pulled over 24-year-old Brian Sawyer for a minor traffic violation. Sawyer’s lack of a driver license led to a search of his vehicle which turned up methamphetamine, heroin, a loaded handgun and ammunition. That led to a search of his home – that led to more weapons and drugs as well a bust of Colonel Ralph Smith of the Tuskegee Airmen which had been missing since 2003;

    Deputy Lopez discovered Smith lived in Moreno Valley and contacted him, according to the release. The colonel told Lopez the bust was sculpted by California artist Don Winton, who gave it to him in 2003.

    Furthermore, Smith said, the Smithsonian Institution had requested to display the sculpture one of its museums, but the piece of art went missing 14 years ago after Smith’s wife died and a rummage sale was held at his house. Smith thought he would never see it again, he told Lopez.

    “They never would tell me, even when I went to court several times, what happened to it,” Smith said.

    But on Sunday afternoon, the colonel was reunited with the sculpture.

    From NBC Los Angeles;

    Sawyer was arrested and booked into the West Valley Detention Center on charges of possessing drugs, firearms and stolen property. His bail was set at $50,000. Sawyer posted a bail bond Sunday and is currently out of custody.

    Smith said he’ll be attending the court proceedings for Sawyer to see if he can figure out where the statue has been for the past 14 years.

  • James Farmer, Army vet, passes

    One of our ninjas send us a link to the story of 62-year-old James Farmer, Junior, an Army veteran who was living out of his car in Denver, Colorado in order to send money to his family in Seattle with plans to move back in September and get on with his life.

    Earlier this month, he heard a ruckus and saw a homeless man, 28-year-old DeJuan Stamps, beating up two teenagers, so Farmer interceded. Stamps turned his attention from the teens to Farmer and proceeded to beat him to death.

    One of the victims, 18-year-old Aidan Brown, was left unconscious and had to get staples in his head.

    “He surely would’ve died had (Farmer) not intervened,” Wes Brown, Aidan’s father, told CNN affiliate KMGH.

    Police arrived to find Stamps still kicking and striking Farmer’s lifeless body.

    Stamps rushed the officers and injured one before he was subdued. He’s facing multiple charges, including one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.

    Farmer’s family told the media;

    His time in the service, his family says, never left him.

    “He took a oath when he joined the United States Army and promised never to leave a man behind … He heard someone in need and risked his life to save (the) lives of those teenagers,” they told CNN affiliate KDVR.

    According to 9News, a memorial was held for Farmer and the teens he rescued were there;

    The two teens Farmer rescued were among Tuesday morning’s crowd. Mave Murphy and Aidan Brown will never get to meet the man who saved their lives, but they’ll never forget his name.

    “I would thank him for performing such a selfless act for someone who he never met before,” Murphy said. “That’s something I’ve never experienced on such a close scale before so it was really moving.”

    Brown’s dad, David, said Farmer’s actions are something his son should never forget.

    “If he sees somebody else in trouble, I hope that he would help them because of the gift that he received,” Brown said.

  • Green Beret “not guilty” in CO home defense

    Fox31 reports that a jury found Michael Galvin, 35, an Army special forces soldier not guilty in the negligent homicide death of Robert Carrigan who Galvin found stealing his stuff in a building not attached to his home back in 2015.

    The prosecutors tried to narrowly define the “stand your ground” or “Make My Day” law to apply only to a home and because the garage was not part of Galvin’s home, they contended that he had no right to shoot Carrigan in self-defense.

    Prosecutors argued the Make My Day law did not apply because Carrigan did not enter Galvin’s home.

    Defense attorneys argued Carrigan lunged for Galvin’s gun before the shooting.

    “I think the jury sent a clear message today that if someone is coming onto your property and is stealing things, you have the right to shoot them,” defense attorney Jeremy Loew told KRDO.

    “You have the right to defend yourself or your family, and your property.”

    “We’re disappointed,” District Attorney Dan May said.

    From the Colorado Springs Gazette;

    During trial, Galvin’s attorneys highlighted Galvin’s military training in arguing that he knew how to identify a deadly threat. They argued that evidence showed Carrigan “lunged” for Galvin’s pistol in the dark, forcing the homeowner to defend himself. They also accused the prosecution of mischaracterizing autopsy findings to support their theory that Carrigan was shot in the back.

    The encounter happened in a garage set back 25 feet from Galvin’s house after he saw his bicycle lying in the backyard and went back to investigate.

    The negligent homicide count alleged that he was guilty of a “gross deviation” from what a reasonable person would do in his place. Prosecutors said he should have waited in his house and called police, or else used his pistol to hold the intruder at bay.

    A former member of the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson who now serves in the Colorado Army National Guard, Galvin could have faced up to three years in prison if convicted.

  • Billy J. Alumbaugh guilty

    We wrote about Billy J. & Debra K. Alumbaugh of Turon, Kansas back in March when they were were charged with a count of conspiracy to defraud the government and another count of theft of government services. He pleaded guilty yesterday to the theft of more than $70,000, according to the Wichita Eagle.

    It seems that the staff at the VA hospital got suspicious when they couldn’t find a reason for his blindness. His wife was seen driving him to the hospital and helping him into the facility. When they left, Debra a driving, but after a few miles, the pair would switch drivers and Billy would drive unassisted.

    According to his plea, Billy Alumbaugh admitted to receiving monthly pension benefits by claiming that he was blind and needed assistance to perform routine activities.

    In fact, he was able to drive and engage in other routine activities without assistance. His wife accompanied him to medical visits in which they pretended he was blind and needed her assistance.

    Debra also pleaded guilty and worked out a deal to be fined a grand and a year probation. Sentencing is set for September 6th.