There is an article in today’s issue of The Birmingham News about the VA’s plans to open two new outpatient clinics here in Alabama. The first will be in Childersburg, taking place in the next few months; the other in Guntersville, will be opening near the end of next year.

According to the article, these openings will increase the number of Veterans Affairs’ Community Based Outpatient Clinics to thirteen. Nine of these clinics are in north Alabama, under the direction of the Birmingham VA Medical Center. The Childersburg clinic is expected to have a staff of 10 and more than 1,700 patients. The Guntersville facility is projected to have 11 staffers and more than 2,500 patients.

A list of all Alabama VA facilities can be found here.

For more information about the Birmingham VA Medical Center, visit their website: www.birmingham.va.gov.

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Lori with the Soldiers’ Angels VA Team emailed me with this bit of news:

An important program launched by companies in the information technology (IT) industry to educate, train, certify and provide job placement assistance for returning veterans. Military who successfully complete the Creating Futures program will have the knowledge and skill level they need to start a rewarding career in IT.

Creating Futures is free for all participants. The cost is covered by organizational sponsors such as HP, Xerox and Ricoh.

The Creating Futures program is tailored to help individuals with various levels of skill. Individuals who have honed their computer skills in the military will be taught how to transfer those skills to civilian life, and those who are new to IT will be taught the basic skills they need to pursue a career in information technology.

Returning veterans interested in participating in the program should visit www.creatingfutures.us for information on how to participate.

Great news!!!! Thanks, Lori!

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I’m so thrilled that The Auburn Plainsman, the student newspaper of Auburn University, published a great story about Guardian Angels for Soldiers Pet!

Organization places deployed troops’ animals in foster homes

Many deployed soldiers are forced to give up their beloved pets because they have no one to take care of the animals. Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet is an organization that sets up foster homes for the soldiers’ pets.

Linda Spurlin-Dominik, National President of Guardian Angels for Soldier’s Pet, said the organization was formed after they became aware of the problems military service members were having finding homes for their pets during their deployment. Soldiers often had to give their pets to a humane society or shelter.

“An individual signs up with our organization with an interest to open their home to a pet while the pet owner is deployed,” Spurlin-Dominik said.

There are three requirements to qualify as a pet foster home. Foster pet owners must open their homes to the pet or pets, ensuring the pets remain in a caring, loving, healthy and safe environment and relinquish the pet back to its owner when he or she returns safely from deployment.

“We are not only helping our military people, but we also help the shelters so that there are less animals surrendered to them,” Spurlin-Dominik said…

Read the rest of the story here!

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Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sergeant France’s loved ones:

Auburn soldier killed in motorcycle accident

Sunday, Raquiviaus “Quake” France told his mother about his dreams of completing aviation school and one day working on airplanes. Tuesday, the Auburn native, who turned 24, on June 4 was killed in a motorcycle accident in Pinellas Park, Fla.

“We were going to see him this weekend,” said his mother, Priscilla Daniel of Auburn. “We talked on Father’s Day and he told me he was in school.”

According to a report released by the Pinellas Park Police, France was traveling northbound on U.S. Highway 19 at 7:19 a.m. when another vehicle made a U-turn directly in front of him. The report said France’s cycle plunged into the rear of a Chevrolet Cavalier, driven by Laura Edmisten, 34. France was ejected at impact, taken to Northside Hospital in nearby St. Petersburg, and pronounced dead at the hospital’s emergency unit.

Police said the accident is under investigation and no charges have been filed.

France, a 2002 Auburn High School graduate, served five years in the U.S. Army, reaching the rank of E-5 Sergeant.

Recently, France was serving in the U.S. Army National Reserves and living in St. Petersburg, where he studied aviation. Daniel told the newspaper that France experienced baptism in the Jordan River, and enjoyed worldwide travel, including stops in Rome and Paris.

“He did so much for us and our country,” Daniel said. “He served one year in Iraq and one year in Afghanistan, and then he came back to me. I remember his strength, his leadership and he knew what to do right. He never got into trouble. He was a respectable young man. He was very loving. He wanted to take care of his mother.”

Harris Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

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Courtesy of the North Jefferson News:

Newton Duke was honored June 7 at Gardendale First Baptist Church during a ceremony in which he received his Purple Heart medal more than 50 years after he earned it in Korea.

Above, Ronnie Guin of Mt. Olive, a member of the Dixie Division Military Vehicles Club, drives Newton Duke to the ceremony.

In the back seat is Duke’s grandson, Sgt. Chase Duke. During the ceremony, Duke pinned an End of Tour award onto his grandson for meritorious service while serving in Afghanistan.

Right, Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, the commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, pins the Purple Heart onto Duke.

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Courtesy of Fox 10 News:

A family waits and watches for a daughter, a sister and an army combat nurse to come home from the battlefield of Iraq. “It has been a long fifteen months, very long,” said Sandra and Richard McMullen, their daughter is now home from Iraq.

Finally the wait is over, “Welcome home baby girl,” Sandra McMullen said to her daughter, 1st Lt. Jami Garrick, as the pair embraced.

A mother and child reunion; it’s been more than a year since Sandra McMullen held her baby girl in her arms.

“I don’t want to let go” said Garrick. Garrick is a combat nurse with the United States Army. She’s been treating coalition soldiers at a combat support hospital in Iraq. “Gone way too long,” added Garrick. “Very glad to be home.”

Garrick plans to pack as much family time into the next few days before shipping out to El Paso, Texas where she’s stationed. “Be here for four days and see family and nephews I’ve watched grow up thru pictures and video cam,” shared Garrick.

For now a proud family will snaps pictures to remember this Father’s Day when a daughter, a sister and a combat nurse came home.

Welcome home, Jami!

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Per the Tuscaloosa News:

Air National Guard Airman Andre A. Callaway has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio. He is the son of Carrie Callaway of Tuscaloosa. Callaway received an associate degree in 2006 from Trenholm State Technical College in Montgomery.

Congratulations, Andre!

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Per the Tuscaloosa News:

Navy Ensign Spencer D. Suarez, son of Teresa and Adrian Suarez of Tuscaloosa, graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and was commissioned as an officer in the Navy. Suarez is a 2004 graduate of Hillcrest High School.

Congratulations, Spencer!

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Courtesy of The Gadsden Times:

Cathye Townsend said she remembers Gadsden fondly and always is happy to visit her old hometown. It allows her time to visit family and reconnect with old friends. But even greater, this time around, she came bearing good news.

Her son, Andrew “Andy” Townsend, is one of 19 students from Alabama on their way to fulfilling their dreams of a military career as students at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Townsend, who received the news a few weeks ago, said she is still stunned, shocked and scared all at the same time.

“We’re just so thrilled for him, he’s such a wonderful boy and this has been a lifelong dream for him,” she said.

Townsend, who now lives in Tuscaloosa, said the “good news” was well received by her family.

“They were so shocked and surprised that we could say someone in our family is going to West Point,” she said.

Townsend said her father, Jack Dean Carr, a World War II veteran, couldn’t wait to tell his grandson all of his old war stories.

“He was so proud,” she said.

Townsend’s mother, Cora Dean Carr, and the rest of her family all live in Gadsden and she said it has been a thrill for everyone.

Andy Townsend will attend West Point with a fellow senior from Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa, J.T. Watkins. The two young men were the only ones from west Alabama selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy.

According to a story in the Tuscaloosa News, Maj. Michael McBride of West Point admissions said only one of 10 who applies is accepted.

This year, West Point received more than 10,000 applications from students who were nominated by their member of Congress or U.S. senator.

In this case, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, nominated both Andy Townsend and Watkins. Andy also received a presidential nomination.

Townsend said it is a great accomplishment for both Hillcrest students who received more than $800,000 in scholarship money.

Davis had a reception in their honor last month to celebrate their achievements.

Andy leaves for boot camp on June 28. Townsend said her son will begin “walking the gray line,” as the military refers to it, on June 30.

Andy will be missed greatly by his parents, but especially his twin brother, Corey, who is expected to attend the University of Alabama in the fall.

“It’s going to be their first separation,” Cathye Townsend said. “They’re going to miss each other a lot.”

But this is what Andy wants to do, he wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps, Townsend said.

Andy’s dad, Maj. Tommy Townsend, is retired and told the Tuscaloosa News that West Point is an honor and tradition.

Congratulations, Andy!

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Courtesy of the Montgomery Advertiser:

It’s one of the most sincere ways to tell someone “thank you” — send a box of toys.
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That’s what Montgomery’s first lady Lynn Bright decided when she spearheaded an effort to send care packages to six city employees who have been activated for military service. She worked with a group of other city employees — including her husband, Mayor Bobby Bright — to decide what to include in the gift packs.

“We tried to think of ‘what would you want?’ — especially if you don’t have access to them (the items). We’re trying to offer some fun and necessities,” Lynn Bright said Thursday morning.

The group asked around and found that basketballs and footballs are hot commodities overseas — they became the main ingredient in the gift boxes along with board and trivia games, playing cards and crossword puzzles.

Lynn Bright said she was especially proud to include journals that she hopes the troops will use to document their time in the military so their families can read about it later.

The group also discovered that it doesn’t take much to entertain someone who is stranded in a desert. Susan Driver, a city employee, said that even the newspaper used as stuffing would be read by the troops.

The mayor wrote a letter saying: “On behalf of the City of Montgomery, Ala., thank you for your services to our nation. Please know that many people are praying for you and all others who are on active duty.”

The value of the items in the box hasn’t been tallied up — the group prepared 20 boxes so the Montgomery people could share them with friends.

It’s impossible to estimate the value to the soldiers who will be fighting overseas when the United States celebrates Independence Day.

Lynn Bright said the gifts were mailed Thursday and should reach all the city employees by July 4.

“It feels really good to do that,” Bright said, adding that even a bottle of lotion can go a long way when such a simple thing is hard to find.

The following city employees are currently active duty: Maj. Rod Byrne, Montgomery Police Department; Kenneth L. Johnson, Montgomery Police Department; Willie E. Stewart, Montgomery Police Department; 1st Lt. Greg A. Schnupp, Montgomery Police Department; Sgt. Travis C. Cleveland, Montgomery Communications; Ojedita L. Johnson Jr., Montgomery Fire Department.

Two of them, Johnson and Schnupp, are already overseas. The other four are expected to be there by the end of the month.

Fine example you’re setting, Montgomery! I’d love to see other cities doing the same!

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