A tragic accident left Bobby Henline, a former U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, severely wounded. But that hasn't stopped him from pursuing his dreams and helping others.
Henline was the only survivor after an explosion occurred while on tour in Iraq in 2007, according to PEOPLE magazine. He faced hardships and became fearful while recovering from burns and an amputated arm. Henline endured over 40 surgeries and plenty of days of rehabilitation, but despite the turmoil, he has persevered.
Despite the injuries, he mustered the strength and courage to heal physically and emotionally, Wide Open Country stated. There were many hesitations and doubts that got in his way but as soon as he started to tell his story, he began to see life in a different light.
"I'm trying to give back. This is a great way to do it, through empowerment and food," Henline told PEOPLE magazine.
Henline realized that the best way to deal with what happened was by helping others, the source stated. Because he had firsthand experience struggling to find a job in life after service, he wanted to find a way to empower veterans and enable them to avoid this issue. He's heading in the right direction, pursuing his passion for helping others and his love for food, specifically burgers.
He is planning to open a burger restaurant that will offer employment to veterans. He looked to his friend and former Korean War veteran, Richard Brown, owner of Biggie's Burgers and Great Shakes, for guidance on this endeavor, Wide Open Country reported. Brown also has a dedication to supporting veterans, who happen to be a majority of his loyal customers.
Brown enthusiastically agreed to assist Henline to open and run another Biggie's chain in San Antonio, according to PEOPLE magazine. As of right now, Henline is trying to raise enough money to get things running smoothly. Once his goal is met, he will hire a staff of those who have served our country. Brown and Henline are an unstoppable dynamic duo who will continue to do their part in the community and hope to serve good food with their great hearts.
French representatives, on March 10, honored three Boston-area veterans for their service during World War II, reported The Boston Globe. Former U.S. Army personnel James Baker, Leo De Filippo and Michael Maglio were nominated to the Legion of Honor, receiving the rank of chevalier.
"Their struggle and efforts occurred at an extremely hard and dark time in both French and European history," Valéry Freland, the Consul General of France in Boston, said soon after presenting the awards. "By celebrating their courage this morning, both the French Republic and the people of France remember the American soldiers who helped them recover their freedom, their pride, and their honor."
Baker, 91, worked as a military truck driver in southern France during the conflict. De Filippo, 96, helped operate a power plant and Maglio, 95, was a cook.
The ceremony took place at the Chelsea Soldiers Home in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
"For me, the real heroes are in France," Maglio said in an interview with a local ABC affiliate. "My friends, my brother friends, I will always remember them."
The Legion of Honor is France's highest award, reported USA Today. Famed military leader Napoléon Bonaparte established the honor in 1802. More than 10,000 American artists, servicemembers and thinkers have received the award over the years. A large portion of these recipients were World War II veterans who helped liberate France from Nazi Germany.
Many feel the award strengthens the relationship between the U.S. and France.
"It shows the enormous gratitude of the French Republic to Americans," Lawrence Kritzman, a professor of comparative literature at Dartmouth College and Legion of Honor recipient, told the publication. "There are times in the media of misrepresentation of the relationship and even in the greatest of relationships there are moments of disappointment, but it doesn't mean that the sense of recognition and gratitude is not there."
A bill that would help veterans in Colorado obtain service dogs has passed through the state's House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee, reported a CBS affiliate in Denver. The bill, House Bill 1112, aims to establish an initiative for former servicemembers in the state who wish to train their own service animals. If the legislation passes, state officials will select approximately 10 veterans for a pilot program.
Rep. Lois Landgraf, R-El Paso County, sponsored HB 1112 in January. Landgraf's intention was to help local veterans cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"These veterans that have these dogs have told me the dog has saved their lives many times; kept them from committing suicide," she told CBS. "My only regret is only reaching out to 10 veterans, but it's a start and then hopefully they will be able to turn around and do the same thing for other veterans and the program will be self-sustaining and it can branch out to police and fire."
Local dog trainers and mental health workers have already agreed to volunteer for the program. And, Landgraf intends to acquire partially trained animals from the state prison system.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, around 15 percent of all veterans who served in the last four major conflicts suffer from PTSD. The VA advises servicemembers dealing with the condition to consider owning a dog. The animals act as loyal companions and reduce stress.
Navy veteran Jeremy Turrell adopted his 7-year-old golden retriever Chaos after he was discharged. Turrell, who suffers from PTSD, eventually trained Chaos to act as his service dog. In January, the veteran came to the Colorado General Assembly to show his support for HB 1112.
"My life in general, he's what's kept me going because if I'm not going to change my life for me, then I'll at least do it for him," Turrell said in an interview with CBS. "The best thing he does is come to your aid. He's there for you to love on him so he can love on you."
Over 50 veterans gathered to perform on the first day of the 2016 Local Veterans Creative Arts Festival in Reno, Nevada, reported the Reno-Gazette Journal. The Department of Veterans Affairs sponsored the event, which started March 2 and continues through March 11. The festival is in its third year.
Last week's opening performance, which took place at the Reno Elks Club, featured comedy, poetry and short-story readings, and musical performances. A ventriloquist even performed.
"It's so that people see that veterans are talented, that we don't just serve the government and serve where we were put but we all have special little gifts that we like to share," Linda Esterling, a 65-year-old former U.S. Marine Corps candidate administrator and the aforementioned puppeteer, told the newspaper.
Eric Hobson, a veteran of the Vietnam War and writer, also performed. The ex-servicemember recited his poem "The Hills Art Alive," a piece about enemy gunfire that plays off the popular film "The Sound of Music." Hobson attended three separate screenings of the movie during his time in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. All three showings were interrupted by advancing North Vietnamese soldiers.
"I hate the movie," he said in an interview with the Reno-Gazette Journal.
Veterans who create visual art will have the opportunity to display their work during a showcase at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System in Reno. It starts Wed. March 9 and wraps up March 11 with an awards ceremony.
The VA funds this and other local veterans arts competitions across the country. Winners from local festivals are invited to perform at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival, which takes place Oct. 10 through 17 in Jackson, Mississippi.
Art therapy is a key treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, reported NBC News. It allows participants to confront their problems and work through them in a constructive and often powerful way. In recent years, art therapy has gained a national foothold among veterans. The National Intrepid Center of Excellence, a division of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, made waves in 2013 when it commissioned its art therapy participants to create a series of painted masks, reported National Geographic.
A sailor killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor was buried March 9 in Honolulu, Hawaii, reported The Associated Press. Petty Officer 1st Class Vernon Luke grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and served on the USS Oklahoma as a machinist's mate. The sailor was killed Dec. 7, 1941 when Japanese forces attacked the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Luke was 43.
Military personnel were unable to identify Luke's remains so, at the close of World War II, he was laid to rest with 387 fellow unidentified shipmates.
Last year, the Department of Defense exhumed the bodies of the sailors to make identifications with modern DNA testing technology, reported Time magazine.
"The Secretary of Defense and I will work tirelessly to ensure your loved ones' remains will be recovered, identified and returned to you as expeditiously as possible, and we will do so with dignity, respect and care," Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said in a news release.
Luke was identified during this initiative. He was reburied in a Honolulu veterans cemetery. Distant family attended the ceremony that closed with 21-gun salute.
Ray Emory, a Navy veteran who served on the USS Honolulu during Pearl Harbor, also attended. Emory told The Associate Press he was happy to see that the military was finally taking action to identify unknown servicemen killed in the attack.
"Here it is 75 years after the attack and they're finally getting around to getting some of these people identified," he said. "It's taken them a long time to do it."
In recent years, the number of living Pearl Harbor survivors has dwindled, reported The Washington Post. Around 60,000 civilians, marines and sailors survived the attack. However, officials estimate that only a few thousand remain. Military personnel, families and historians understand that these men and women are key to keeping the memory of Pearl Harbor alive.
Over 2,000 died in the attack, which prompted Congress to declare war on Japan and enter World War II.
Students at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana treated local veterans to free dental care Feb. 29 through March 2, reported The Gazette. Ex-servicemembers received tooth cleanings, dental X-rays and other services free of charge.
The USI Dental Hygiene Program, in conjunction with its Veteran, Military & Family Resource Center and the Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center, hosts the program annually. This year, the appointment schedule filled up quickly.
Students work the clinic, but instructors supervise and manage patient flow.
"They learn a lot," Dr. Sam Euler, a professor at USI and clinic overseer, told The Gazette. "They need to see diversity – all different types of mouths – the ones that aren't so clean and the ones that are clean. And it helps the veterans, too, because it's free of charge."
To receive care, veterans had to show valid military identification and fill out a medical history form.
Larry Gries, a Vietnam War veteran, had his teeth cleaned, received a fluoride treatment and got a new set of dental X-rays through the program.
"Oh, I think it's fantastic," the 67-year-old said. "It helps us and it helps the students. They do a thorough job."
Dental care is a key problem for many former servicemembers, reported The Huffington Post. Most don't qualify for Department of Veterans Affairs dental benefits. To receive dental benefits, veterans must be entirely disabled, have been held captive as a prisoner of war or developed an oral condition during deployment. However, the agency does allow former members of the military to enroll in low-cost dental insurance plans via a number of providers.
To fill the void, many private dentistry practices and educational institutions offer free or cost-effective services to veterans. Last year, Aspen Dental, a nationwide dental services company, partnered with the military nonprofit Got Your 6 to help over 4,000 ex-servicemembers receive care.
Members of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on March 4, discussed pain management techniques for veterans during a field meeting in Concord, New Hampshire, reported The Associated Press. The group, chaired by Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., traveled to the state to examine innovative pain relief methods employed at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers in Manchester and White River Junction, Vermont.
Reps. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., and Frank Guinta, R-N.H., invited the committee.
Doctors at White River Junction VA Medical Center prescribe acupuncture, aquatic therapy and yoga to local veterans with chronic pain, reported Vermont Public Radio. The reasoning is simple: the state is at the center of the ongoing opioid crisis. Deaths attributed to drug overdose are up 113 percent since 2013, reported Al Jazeera. This crisis has had a major impact on veterans, as many return home with battle scars that cause long-lasting chronic pain. Often, VA physicians prescribe addictive painkillers to these individuals, which can lead to drug dependency.
Many ex-servicemembers go out of their way to avoid opioids. Carol Hitchcock, an Iraq War veteran, came to the medical center in White River Junction looking to do just that. Hitchcock had injured her shoulder in the service and could no longer stand the pain. She needed help but refused to take painkillers. So, physicians at the hospital tried acupuncture and it worked. The procedure changed her life.
"I sleep, which I hadn't done for a number of years," she told Vermont Public Radio. "I can actually sleep now because of this. The pain is not there. I guess it's cyclical, right? So I feel better, so I am healthier, so I sleep better and my weight is under control now, so everything just aligns."
During their March 4 hearing, Coffman and his fellow legislators praised the hospital for its work but asserted that the VA needed to offer more support to physicians developing such treatments.
"The department can't simply introduce well-intentioned programs and then fail to manage them properly," he said. "If these alternative treatments really work, they need to be implemented rapidly."
A veteran in Huntington Beach contributed to The Library of Congress' Veterans History Project, reported the Huntington Beach Independent. Harold Tor, 88, served in the 11th Airborne Division of the U.S. Army during World War II and earned a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and other commendations for his service. Tor deployed to the Philippines and, on Feb. 23, 1945, participated in the Raid at Los Banos, an allied military offensive that resulted in the liberation of over 2,000 civilians and military prisoners from a Japanese prison camp. He was wounded twice during the war and was discharged after losing his arm, from the elbow down, during an ambush.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Tor enlisted when he was only 16. Even today, he remains thankful that the recruitment officer looked past his falsified enlistment application.
"They only had two requirements to get into the military back then," he told the newspaper. "The first was you had to be able to walk through the recruiting office door, and the second was you had to be breathing."
Tor took part in a narrative collection drive organized by his local American Legion Post 133 in Huntington Beach. Jim Seiler, a Vietnam War veteran and employee at the post, brought the Veterans History Project to the attention of his superiors who then encouraged members to donate their stories.
"It's a means of preserving their story," Seiler said in an interview. "When they're gone, their story will be available for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It'll also be available for future historians, students and anybody that is writing a book about anything and wants some background. In some sense, it's a form of immortality for the veteran."
Congress, in 2000, passed legislation that established the Veterans History Project, reported The New York Times. The Library of Congress' American Folklife Center runs the initiative which, as of last month, has collected more than 100,000 stories from former military personnel.
First lady Michelle Obama, on March 2, recognized female veterans during a reception in Washington, D.C., reported ABC News. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi organized the event to celebrate Women's History Month.
At the reception, Obama encouraged women ex-servicemembers to share their stories.
Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Wilma Vaught joined the military in 1957, almost 10 years after Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed women to enlist in the armed forces. Vaught left the Air Force in 1985 and went on to serve as president for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, reported RealClear Politics. The nonprofit lobbied the federal government to construct a monument to female veterans. Workers broke ground on the project in 1995 and completed it two years later. Vaught retired from the organization Jan. 1, 2016.
The first lady honored Vaught by presenting her with the American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on that day.
"Thanks to brilliant, fearless women like Gen. Vaught, today more than 200,000 women are serving our country in just about every role and rank," Obama said. "They are flying fighter jets, training new recruits, they're graduating Army Ranger School – and I met those graduates. They are awesome – fierce. And as you've already heard, they will soon be welcome in every combat unit in our armed forces."
Former U.S. Army Reserve photographer Kate Hoit served for eight years and did multiple tours in Iraq. Upon returning home, Hoit and a fellow male veteran went to register at their local Veterans of Foreign Wars office. Staff at the VFW branch mistook her for a military spouse.
"I was pulled aside and asked if I needed the military spouse application," she told ABC News. "I asked why, and they said, 'You know, you're a younger woman.'"
Hoit now works for Group 6, an advocacy group committed to changing perceptions about female veterans.
Obama addressed the problems young women like Hoit still face when they return home from service. She renewed the Obama administration's commitment to support female veterans by shining light on women servicemembers and continuing to expand military benefits for women. Under President Barack Obama, over 2,400 healthcare providers have established specialized services for female veterans.
"When these women have sacrificed so much and served so bravely, they should never have to hide their accomplishments," the first lady said. "They should never have to worry about whether their service will be valued equally. And just like every veteran who has served this country, they should be getting every single one of the benefits they've earned."
After they get out of the service, many veterans turn to different kinds of entrepreneurship as a means of making a living. Often, these efforts go quite well, but sometimes they might need a hand, and that's where a new government program in Indiana comes in.
The state recently launched its Indiana Grown Homegrown by Heroes, as a means of promoting agricultural businesses run by veterans throughout the state, according to a report from the Associated Press. Altogether, about 15 veteran-run businesses are already part of the program, which will spread out more in the future.
"It supports local farmers, and it helps support veterans," Glenn Hile, a Marine Corps Reserves veteran and beekeeper who was one of the first to sign up, told the news organization. "I just think it is a great idea."
Programs such as these, as well as veteran-focused organizations, often go a long way toward helping veterans get back on their feet and find success in civilian life. As such, they are worthwhile investments both privately and publicly, and can help former servicemembers in a number of ways.