U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Thursday helped introduce a bipartisan resolution directing the Secretary of Defense to assess the toxic exposure of American military service members deployed to Karshi Khanabad Air Base (K2) in Uzbekistan.
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Ohio veteran Kenton Stacy is a good example of why Time magazine missed the mark in naming its 2019 person of the year.
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U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) is seeking answers as to why the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System abruptly closed its clinic in Dover.
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U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green (R-TN-07) said in a press release that he has made it a priority throughout his time in Congress to honor the fallen and support Gold Star spouses and families and to honor veterans in general. His first bill in Congress was a bipartisan piece of legislation called the Protecting Gold Star Spouses Act to continue pay to Gold Star families during government shutdowns. Recently, Green introduced a second bill called the Protecting Gold Star Children Act. This bill would return Gold Star children to a tax rate derived from the parent’s tax bracket, instead of being taxed at a rate from trust fund tax brackets. Many children will go from a 37 percent rate to a 15 percent tax rate. Also, on Memorial Day on Monday, Rep. Mark Green will be attending and speaking at the Williamson County Memorial Day Service at the Veterans Park in Franklin at 10 a.m. CST. He will also be attending and speaking at a Decatur County Memorial Day event in Decaturville at 2:30 CST. “We should never forget the men and women who paid the ultimate price for our freedom,” Green said. “Many Americans will gather around monuments on Memorial Day, paying their…
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On Thursday’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am-Steve Gill spoke to Colonel Mark Tillman who is in town to attend the Reboot Alliance luncheon in effort to help raise money for veterans and first responders who are suffering with trauma and PTSD disorders. Towards the end of the segment, Tillman and Gill reminisced about how Americans used to be proud of their country after 9-11 by displaying a love for country and unity by installing flags and decals on cars, and chanting USA at baseball and football games. They agreed that this enthusiasm has been lost and that in order for the country to move forward we need to get that type of mentality back. Gill: There is non-profit here in the Nashville area called Reboot Recovery. It’s a Tennessee based nonprofit that offers trauma healing courses to veterans and first responders nationwide. And today they’re kicking off their weekend of Memorial Day with a banquet where Colonel Tillman is going to join them. He is the guy who was literally flying Air Force One the day of 9-11. He’s going to be…
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A bill currently under consideration by the Ohio Legislature would exempt disability service pay, made to honorably discharged veterans, from state income taxes. House Bill 18 (HB 18) was introduced to the Ohio House of Representatives last month. Wednesday, the bill finally came to a vote where it passed by an almost unprecedented 98-0 votes. It has now been introduced tot he Senate where it is expected to pass with similar support. In a statement, the bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Erica Crawley, (D-Columbus) stated: This is a great example of how the legislature can work together to deliver real results that have a minimal fiscal impact on the state and keep Ohio’s promise to our veterans by eliminating hardships, Rep. Crawley is a Navy veteran. The Department of Veterans Affairs defines disability compensation as: Disability compensation is a monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are determined by VA to be disabled by an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service. These disabilities are considered to be service connected. To be eligible for compensation, the Veteran must have been separated or discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. As of 2013, over 800,000 of the more than 21…
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Two Marine veterans are claiming the 3M company owes them for loss of hearing they have suffered due to defective earplugs manufactured by the 3M Company and sold to the U.S military for more than a decade. Last summer the U.S. Department of Justice and 3M reached a $9.1 million settlement over the defective dual ended combat earplugs. Now, 3M is facing civil suits across the country for selling the defective earplugs. Some predict that thousands of suits will soon be filed. One such lawsuit has already been filed in Nashville’s Federal Court by Goodlettsville attorney Tim Bowden on behalf of Christopher Wade Phillips and Eric Wayne Lewis. Both Phillips and Lewis served in the U.S. Marines on overseas combat deployments during which time they were issued and used the defective 3M combat earplugs. Both claim to have suffered substantial hearing loss as the result of their use of the defective 3M combat earplugs. Phillips joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2001 at age 18. He was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait in 2003 and served until he was medically discharged in 2004 with a forty percent hearing loss. Lewis also joined the Marine Corps at the age of 18,…
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by Max Jungreis Pfc. Nichole Bowen-Crawford said she was walking to lunch on her Army base near Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 2003 when she received her daily proposition from a passing fellow soldier. “Hey, Bowen,” the officer tossed out, “let’s go f— in the bunker.” Bowen-Crawford told VOA that while this was the most shocking example of the day-to-day regimen of verbal sexual harassment she experienced while in the Army between 2001-2004, it was not her worst experience — she had been assaulted by a higher-ranking sergeant earlier that year. When she reported the incident to a male supervisor, she was advised to stay quiet for the sake of her career. Bowen-Crawford’s experience is not universal, but far from rare. Suicide rate A work environment tolerant of sexual assault and harassment is believed to be one of the causes of high suicide rates among female veterans, which soared more than 45 percent between 2001 and 2015, according to data from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The rate among female veterans is lower than that of male veterans, but not compared to their civilian counterparts. Female veterans are almost twice as likely to kill themselves as civilian women. “Certainly…
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by Troy Worden When Jake Hill heard that an atheist activist group had sued to have a historic World War I memorial pulled down because some people were offended by the monument’s Christian symbolism, the Marine got angry. “Americans of all faith backgrounds should be outraged,” Hill, a lance corporal in the Marine Corps, said. Hill, of Madison, Wisconsin, was awarded the Silver Star during the Afghanistan War for his valor in leading his squad through enemy fire in 2010 to rescue a wounded fellow Marine. He also received a Purple Heart after being wounded in action during his service from 2008 to 2013. But back home, another battle is brewing at the Supreme Court. Hill sees the latest effort to remove the 40-foot-tall Peace Cross in Bladensburg, Maryland, as one more step in a long war against religious liberty in America. “Where will this end?” Hill, 28, asked in an email to The Daily Signal. “Will they begin chiseling the crosses and stars of David off gravestones in Arlington National Cemetery next?” Another Marine Corps veteran told The Daily Signal that he would not find a broad Supreme Court ruling against religious-themed memorials appealing. “I hope that in…
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by Jeremy Dys They came from many walks of life, the 49 boys of Prince George’s County, Maryland. Several were laborers like George Washington Farmer and William Lee–one white, the other African-American. One, Ernest Pendleton Magruder, was a well-known surgeon. Another, Henry Lewis Hulbert, a Medal of Honor recipient of a previous war, would again display such bravery that he would earn a Distinguished Service Cross. Educated or not, white or black, rich or poor, their diverse backgrounds mattered little as they died on foreign soil in the final months of the “war to end all wars.” Their bodies were interred under small grave makers, including crosses, in cemeteries far too distant for their families to ever visit. So, in 1925, a local post of The American Legion—now the largest veterans service organization in the country with approximately 2.2 million members—erected the Bladensburg World War I Veterans Memorial to honor the 49 Bladensburg-area men who gave their lives serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during WWI. But the cross-shape of the monument is too much to bear for some humanists, who have sued to have the memorial deemed unconstitutional. Late last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
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by Chuck Ross Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson mocked the appearance of Republican congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who lost his eye in an IED blast in Afghanistan. “This guy is kind of cool — Dan Crenshaw,” began Davidson during a Weekend Update segment. A photo of Crenshaw, who wears an eyepatch, flashed on the screen, eliciting laughter from Davidson, his fellow cast members and the SNL audience. “You may be surprised to hear he’s a congressional candidate for Texas and not a hit-man in a porno movie,” continued Davidson, who known for his recently failed relationship with pop star Ariana Grande. [ RELATED: Meet The One-Eyed Navy SEAL Running For Congress In Texas ] Dan Crenshaw was nearly blinded in 2012 when he was hit by an IED blast in Afghanistan's Helmand province, where he was on his third deployment. He lost his right eye in the blast, and his left eye was badly damaged. Shame on you, @nbcsnl, this is disgusting! pic.twitter.com/VQnhXMa6iT — The Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) November 4, 2018 Crenshaw’s eyepatch covers an injury he sustained from an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2012. “One of our Afghan interpreters stepped on…
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Dear Tennessee Star, November is best known for three special dates: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, and every other year, election day. This is one of those years in which we have all three and the interesting, little-understood, facet of this month is that all three of these days are connected. Thanksgiving is the day originally designated to give thanks to God for His gracious provision for our nation. While today it is more likely an occasion for excessive eating and watching sports, it is still a good time to reflect on our tremendous blessings. Though the United States is not a perfect nation, we still have more opportunities and abundance than any other nation on earth. This is certainly something for which to give thanks, and in regard to showing appreciation, in the last 20 years, thanking our veterans for their service has become a custom for some. The veterans of the Revolution won our right to enjoy the blessings of this land at great sacrifice. Then those of the Civil War ensured that all people would be able to enjoy these blessings, again at great cost. In every other war, our armed forces met the challenge of defending our nation…
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Dear Tennessee Star, November is best known for three special dates: Thanksgiving, Veteran’s Day, and every other year, election day. This is one of those years in which we have all three and the interesting, little-understood, facet of this month is that all three of these days are connected. Thanksgiving is the day originally designated to give thanks to God for His gracious provision for our nation. While today it is more likely an occasion for excessive eating and watching sports, it is still a good time to reflect on our tremendous blessings. Though the United States is not a perfect nation, we still have more opportunities and abundance than any other nation on earth. This is certainly something for which to give thanks, and in regard to showing appreciation, in the last 20 years, thanking our veterans for their service has become a custom for some. The veterans of the Revolution won our right to enjoy the blessings of this land at great sacrifice. Then those of the Civil War ensured that all people would be able to enjoy these blessings, again at great cost. In every other war, our armed forces met the challenge of defending our nation…
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A Chattanooga veteran of the Vietnam War said, “No one has fought harder for our active duty military and our veterans than Marsha Blackburn. We need to elect her to the Senate because the issues with the VA are far from solved.” Terry Thomas wrote a column for the Times Free Press supporting Republican Marsha Blackburn in her U.S. Senate campaign against Democrat Phil Bredesen. “I served in combat on the rivers in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy, and now I serve my fellow veterans as the quartermaster of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1289 here in Chattanooga. We have about 400 members, all of whom have served our country faithfully over the past several decades. “Too often, our members find themselves unable to receive the care they need — the same care they have earned and were promised. Your heart will break hearing about what our veterans have to go through to get care from a dysfunctional Veterans Administration. President Trump is working to make the necessary changes that the Obama administration put off for too long, but he cannot do it alone. He needs senators and congressmen who are willing to work with him to get the job…
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by Richard Gardiner In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. The holiday was Memorial Day, and this year’s commemoration on May 28 marks the 150th anniversary of its official nationwide observance. The annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead. Gen. John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time, the Grand Army of the Republic, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday. Yet when General Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Union’s former enemies, saying, “It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South.” I’m a scholar who has written – with co-author Daniel Bellware – a history of Memorial Day. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holiday’s birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday…
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Several country artists took time to perform, meet and greet honored military families, active duty military and veterans at the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday, May 22.
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by Tom Callender This weekend marks the 150th anniversary of that first “Memorial Day” remembrance, when Congressman James Garfield—who would later become president—addressed a crowd of more than 5,000 at Arlington Cemetery. The tradition continues to this day at national cemeteries across the nation, with the president of the United States most often delivering the address and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. To millions of Americans, Memorial Day symbolizes the unofficial start of summer—the opening of the local community pool, baseball games, concerts, barbecues, and trips to the beach. Regrettably, a Gallup poll in 2000 revealed that only 28 percent of Americans knew the true meaning of Memorial Day, and 40 percent confused it with Veterans Day. [ The liberal Left continue to push their radical agenda against American values. The good news is there is a solution. Find out more ] So, what is the meaning of Memorial Day? Memorial Day is the day to remember those men and women who died while serving in our nation’s armed forces, whereas Veterans Day is a day to celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans. Why have so many Americans lost sight of the true meaning and…
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The Tennessee State Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 10 and Senate Bill 1675, both of which were sponsored by State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville). “I was honored to sponsor these two bills to help our veterans who have given sacrificially to serve our country. Senate Bill 10 and Senate Bill 1675 both correct injustices in our state law, and I’m glad the Senate voted unanimously to pass them. I look forward to the passage of these bills in the House under the leadership of Rep. Tilman Goins and Rep. Joe Pitts,” Senator Green said in a statement. Senate Bill 10 finally exempts severely disabled veterans who receive, as gifts, modified vehicles from the US Department of Affairs from paying sales taxes and registration fees: This bill exempts a new or used motor vehicle that is sold, given, or donated to a veteran or active-duty service member of the armed services from any applicable sales and use tax if: (1) The veteran or service member has a service-connected disability; (2) The veteran or service member receives a grant from the United States department of veterans affairs; and (3) The grant is used to provide or assist in providing the vehicle to…
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Among the balls, parades, and philanthropic works Mardi Gras krewes undertake throughout the year, one stands out as unique. Legion of Mars, a krewe named for the Roman god of war who fought only to secure the peace, was founded by a group of New Orleans JAG (judge advocate general) attorneys in 2013.
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NBC’s “The Wall,” hosted by Chris Hardwick and produced by LeBron James, has put millions of dollars into the pockets of everyday Americans since it premiered last year. The premise is rather simple. Two contestants compete to earn cash by answering trivia questions — and then sending a ball down a wall, where it can drop on various amounts of money. At one point, one contestant is put into isolation where he or she answers the trivia questions — and the person’s partner decides where to drop the ball on the wall.
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At The Brownstone restaurant in Paterson, New Jersey, the founder of a small but mighty nonprofit organization and its sponsors gathered on November 14 to honor Rich Farley and other veterans. Farley received Jack — a highly trained service dog — a few years ago, thanks to the work of J.T. Gabriel’s nonprofit organization, K9 Soldiers,…
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Though female veterans are the American military’s fastest growing population — stories about them are not often told or heard. “Blood Stripe,” one of the most recent films to be recognized by the , is looking to change that. The title “Blood Stripe” refers to the scarlet band on the trouser leg of a Marine Corps…
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President Trump signed a law Friday that makes it easier for the Department of Veterans Affairs to fire employees for wrongdoing and adds protections for whistleblowers in the VA. Responding to an Obama-era scandal in which veterans died waiting for doctor’s appointments, Mr. Trump said the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of…
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In another promise fulfilled, President Trump signed the Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 Friday.
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President Trump has some unwavering support from a very unique demographic: Republican military veterans. An extensive new Pew Research Center reveals that 98 percent of these GOP vets approve of the job Mr. Trump is doing. He has some fans across the greater population of vets as well. The poll also found that 54 percent of…
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Our society survives by the service and martyrdom of these selfless souls. Tennessee, the Volunteer State, of all the states, should be the first to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Happy Memorial Day 2017!
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President Trump has some unwavering support from a very unique demographic: Republican military veterans. An extensive new Pew Research Center reveals that 98 percent of these GOP vets approve of the job Mr. Trump is doing. He has some fans across the greater population of vets as well. The poll also found that 54 percent of…
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House Finance Chairman Charles Sargent (R-Franklin) on Friday stripped an amendment to the budget bill, HB 511, that would have given $3.12 million to veterans, opting instead for a pork project in Williamson County. On Thursday during House debate on the budget, Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R-Lenoir City) introduced an amendment that redirected $3.12 million from the Historical Commission for the demolition and construction of a new Carter House Visitors Center in Franklin to four Tennessee chapters of Honor Flight and Honor Air programs across the state. These non-profit organizations fly aging veterans to Washington, D.C. in order for them to pay their final respects the memorials dedicated to their sacrifice and to their fellow soldiers who died in battle. Top priority is given to the senior veterans, World War II veterans, survivors, people who have given their all. Many of these veterans could be disabled, handicapped, or even terminally ill. Sargent initially tried to kill the amendment by making the motion to “lay on the table,” but the motion failed by a vote of 35 ayes, 52 nays. Despite the disagreement throughout much of the day, this amendment passed with bipartisan support on Thursday with a vote of 49 ayes and 36…
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A 93-year-old Blount County veteran was given a quilt last month to honor his military service, an award bestowed by a national nonprofit organization. The quilt was the handiwork of Quilts of Valor, which started in 2003. “Boy that means a lot, it means a lot,” said Ray Garner after receiving his quilt at the Blount County Courthouse, according to WBIR Channel 10 in Knoxville. A Purple Heart recipient, Garner served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. His name is on the World War II Battle of the Bulge monument outside the Blount County Courthouse. Quilts of Valor was founded by Catherine Roberts, whose son was deployed to Iraq, according to the group’s website. The group originally focused on honoring those wounded in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The first quilt was awarded in November 2003 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to a young soldier from Minnesota who had lost his leg in Iraq. A Walter Reed chaplain welcomed the group because his wife happened to be a quilter. In 2009 in Bellingham, Washington, a group of Quilts of Valor volunteers who got together for a quilting retreat looked for veterans of Iraq and…
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Concerned Veterans of America (CVA) blasted Tennessee’s Republican political establishment on Monday for using veterans in a “Tennessee [gas] tax hike ploy.” “The politicians pushing for this gas tax increase know that it’s unpopular, so they’ve resorted to using veterans as pawns to push their big government agenda. Pretending that this massive tax hike is good for the military community is an unconscionable move that disrespects those who fought and sacrificed for this country,” Mark Lucas, executive director of CVA said in a statement. “The truth is that this gas tax will hurt families and veterans alike who rely on affordable transportation in the state. Veterans deserve property tax relief, but not as part of a glaringly obvious ploy to increase taxes across the board. We urge the Tennessee legislature to look for ways to cut wasteful government spending instead of approving this disingenuous and costly tax hike,” Lucas said. The amended version of Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act gas tax increase that passed the Senate Transporation Committee last week “includes a small tax relief for veterans which would exempt them from paying property taxes under certain circumstances, but would not protect them from the impact of the massive gas tax…
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