Tag Archives: Veterans

Tim McGraw To Give 36 Mortgage-Free Homes To Veterans

Country star Tim McGraw is putting his money where his heart is.

McGraw announced that he will be giving away a total of 36 homes to veterans and is paying them off so that the soldiers don’t have to worry about a mortgage payment.

“I can honestly say that I got as much — or more — out of the experience than the veterans who received the new homes and assistance,” McGraw said in a statement. “These families made an incredible mark on me, and I’m more grateful than I’ve ever been for the sacrifices they make every day to serve our country.”

McGraw has worked with an organization called Operation Homefront to help veterans who have not been able to obtain mortgages for homes because of the recent economic problems and restrictions placed on credit and borrowing.

“My sister’s a veteran, my uncle’s a veteran, my grandfather was a veteran, one of my best friends is a veteran,” McGraw said in an interview. “I’ve known people my whole life who are in service to America. And I think in my position to be able to do something like that is probably the ultimate thing.”

The organization has given away over 100 homes to veterans through efforts with McGraw and Chase Bank.

MMA Fighter’s Ministry Helps Combat Vets With PTSD

An MMA fighter says he feels called by God to help the men and women of our armed forces who suffer from PTSD.

Chad Robichaux said that when he retired from the Marines after eight tours of duty in Afghanistan, he almost lost his family because of PTSD.  He then discovered “God’s blueprint” for life after his wife in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage contacted a pastor that Chad knew to speak with him.

The pastor showed Chad that God had a plan for his life that included overcoming PTSD.  Working together, they reconnected Chad with his family and saved his marriage.

In 2011, Chad felt led to take that healing he experienced and use it to help other veterans who were in the same situation he faced coming home.  WoodsEdge Community Church joined with him to form the Mighty Oaks Warrior Program.

“Through the mentoring I found that all the programs I have been through, all the pills, all the counseling, nothing had worked liked it did when I let Christ in my life and aligned my life with the life he intended me to live,” Robichaux told The Christian Post. “When something like this happens to you, you can’t help but share it. Here we are four years later and 710 guys later who experienced the same story.”

The program has now branched out into churches across the country with reports of huge success.

“Bring Jesus into the equation and watch them get set free,” said John Mizerak of Life Church in Virginia.  He noted that not a single suicide or divorce has taken place among the men participating in the program.

“Communities of faith need to really listen to the needs of veterans and offer a helping hand to veteran families, especially ones that are transitioning from a time of military service,” Ruth Frey, director of programs at the Washington National Cathedral in the District of Columbia said.

“It is also important for people of faith to advocate for veterans needs with their state and national legislators. As Christians, we are called to care for our neighbors and these are some of the ways we can live that out.”

Veterans Watch Over 8,000 Students Every Day

The call of duty continues for a team of veterans that keep students safe.

In 2011, the nonprofit Leave No Veteran Behind (LNVB) started the Safe Passage Program that deploys veterans in unsafe Chicago neighborhoods to watch over students as they walk to and from school.

The program’s goal isn’t only to reduce youth violence in Chicago, but to also help veterans with their student loans. The nonprofit covers the veterans’ debt and helps them look for jobs and their payment is 100-400 hours of community service, watching over the students. Leave No Veteran Behind has currently paid back over $150,000 in student loans through a Retroactive Scholarship Program.

More than 400 veterans have participated in the Safe Passage Program, watching over 8,000 Chicago students daily.

The organization plans to expand the Safe Passage Program throughout Chicago this year.

 

Former General Says America Facing Spiritually Dark Time

Retired General Jerry Boykin is no stranger to battles.  A 36-year veteran including 13 years in the elite Delta Force, has been involved in situations including the 1980 Iran hostage rescue attempt and the Black Hawk Down incident in Somalia.

Yet he sees one of the greatest battles ahead of him: standing up for Christ in a society that is facing a dark spiritual time. A time he believes could bring the end of the nation.

“We’re going to wind up exactly like these other great empires, which only lasted on an average about 200 years,” he said. “We’re going to completely self-destruct. And you see the beginnings of that now.”

Boykin spoke to CBN and said that it’s critical for America to experience another Great Awakening that will bring the nation back to God before it’s too late.  He said that the two previous Awakenings led to “extraordinary things” happened in the world.

Boykin said that Christians couldn’t count on politicians to save the country.

“Me plus the Holy Spirit: that’s a majority,” he said.

Judge’s Ruling To Remove Cross Appealed

The Mount Soledad Memorial Association is not going to allow an anti-Christian lawsuit calling for only the removal of a cross from a veteran’s memorial to go down without a fight.

An appeal has been filed with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals contesting the order of U.S. District Judge Larry Burns that a cross be removed from Mount Soledad because it was unconstitutional.  The judge had stayed his order because he expected the appeal.

“If we fail to preserve this veterans memorial and the ACLU is successful in tearing down the oldest Korean War veterans memorial in the United States, then so too will be the fate of other veterans memorials like it, including the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice and the Argonne Cross in Arlington Cemetery,” a lawyer defending the MSMA told Fox News.

The ACLU’s lawsuit does not call for the removal of other religious symbols from the site including Stars of David.

Man Faces Life For Defrauding Navy Veterans

A man convicted of masterminding a $100 million fraud involving Navy veterans could be spending the rest of his life in prison.

John Donald Cody, 67, is a Harvard-trained attorney who was convicted of racketeering, theft, money laundering and 12 counts of identity theft in connection with his looting of the United States Navy Veterans Association.

Cody defrauded veterans and supporters in 41 states but Ohio took the lead in prosecuting him. He was arrested after spending two years on the run after hiding out in Portland, Oregon. Only a small amount of the $100 million was found.

The Ohio state attorney general’s office, which handled the prosecution, is asking the judge to sentence Cody to 41 years in prison and a fine of $6.3 million.

Cody’s defense team is calling for a new trial saying that their legal defense was ineffective because of limited preparation time and their client’s erratic behavior and cooperation.

War Hero To Be Built Wheelchair Accessible Home

In a day and age where most high school students spend their time focused on getting the latest iPhone or seeking out the latest party, a group of high schoolers in Lancaster, California are spending their time making a difference in the life of an American hero.

Jerral Hancock is an Iraq war veteran who lost an arm and suffered burns all over his paralyzed body after his vehicle in Baghdad hit with an IED on his 21st birthday. A piece of shrapnel lodged in his spine leaving him paralyzed below the waist so he couldn’t escape the burning truck. Hancock was scheduled to leave the service just a few months after his injury.

He had bought a mobile home for his himself, his wife and their two kids after he returned from the war. When he came back, the home was too small for him to take his wheelchair down the hallway. He also spent almost six months trapped at the house when his family’s truck broke down keeping him from being able to attend appointments at the nearest VA facility.

When students in the U.S. History classes of teacher Jamie Goodreau heard about Hancock’s plight, they resolved to make a difference in this American hero’s life. They began to hold fundraisers and charity events to buy land for building a new, wheelchair-accessible home for Hancock and his family.

In six months, the students raised enough to close escrow on a $264,000 piece of property where they will be breaking ground on a house next month.

“We had no doubt it could be done,” senior Joseph Mallyon told Fox News. “Older people, the people who have jobs, who go through life and know the harsh reality of things, those people doubt us. But we just accept it and say ‘watch what we can do!’”

Students who graduated and are attending colleges have continued to raise funds for the home in what they’re calling Operation All The Way Home.

ABC News: Veterans Day: Events and Ceremonies Around Nation

Across the nation, Americans are commemorating Veterans Day with parades, wreath-laying ceremonies, monument dedications and other events.

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NEW YORK: WOMEN IN SERVICE

The U.S. military’s first female four-star general will be a grand marshal at New York City’s Veterans Day Parade.

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody retired last year after a 37-year Army career.

Source: ABC News – ABC News: Veterans Day: Events and Ceremonies Around Nation

Veterans Affairs Head Says He Will Withhold Checks

The head of Veterans Affairs has said he will be holding the checks of veterans and millions of others if the budget impasse is not resolved by November 1st.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said he withhold more than 5.18 million checks worth around $6.25 billion on November 1st. Shinseki told the House Veterans Affairs Committee he wouldn’t be able to pay beneficiaries without a budget.

He said that payments would stop for 364,000 survivors getting special benefits, 500,000 vets and spouses would stop getting pension payments and GI Bill programs will stop for another 500,000 people.

The House of Representatives passed a bill last week to fund the VA but the Senate has not considered the bill.

CNN: Pentagon strikes deal with charity to pay military death benefits

The Pentagon is entering into an agreement with a private foundation to ensure families of fallen troops are paid survivor benefits that were suspended because of the government shutdown, the U.S. Secretary of Defense said Wednesday.

The government will reimburse the Fisher House Foundation once the shutdown is over, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a written statement.

“I am offended, outraged, and embarrassed that the government shutdown had prevented the Department of Defense from fulfilling this most sacred responsibility in a timely manner,” Hagel said.

“In the days before the shutdown, we warned Congress and the American people that DoD would not have the legal authority to make these payments during a lapse in appropriations.”

The announcement came just after the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to resume paying survivor benefits, which includes a $100,000 payment.

Source: CNN – CNN: Pentagon strikes deal with charity to pay military death benefits