Courtesy WSET.com

A fan sent us this story and asked us to share it, and hopefully someone knows this Marine.

Courtesy WSET.com:

For years, Sergeant Bozeman has wondered what happened to a man who he only knew for a few moments, a man whose life he saved during the Vietnam War.

 

May 4, 1967 is a day that has haunted Sergeant Bozeman for nearly half a century.

 

“They shot and the helicopter caught on fire and we crashed about a quarter mile away. The helicopter is on fire but there is one marine still stuck in there,” said Bozeman.

 

Without any hesitation, Bozeman risked his own life to save the life of a man he had never met.

 

“I threw my machine gun down and hauled ass across the rice paddy, and reached up in the helicopter and got him out,” he said.

 

Bozeman never knew the name of the man he saved, but counts it a privilege to have done his duty.

Bozeman has been getting help in his search from the reporter at WSET, as well as Senator Warner who has begun an archives search.

“I’m blessed to have lived a long life and have kids and grand kids; I hope he did too,” said Bozeman.

 

For 46 years now, the same scene plays over and over in his mind.

 

“I can still see him lying right there in front of me when we picked him up on the stretcher and brought him in the helicopter,” said Bozeman.

 

Leaving him even more determined to find the man.

 

“I’d like to sit down and shake his hand and talk about the days in Corps and that fateful day that we met,” said Bozeman.

 

 

From the archives search they gathered the following information:

The date the crash happened was May 4, 1967 in Vietnam. The gentleman was an African American Male and was in Delta Company, First Battalion Third Marine. The operation was Operation Beaver Cage.

Here is the interview with Mr. Bozeman, if anyone knows the Marine he is asking about, shoot us an email. Or email the reporter in the original story.

Marine Looking For Man He Saved

WSET.com – ABC13

Courtesy of Tampa BayTimes:

Alayna Adams was living a dream as she prepared to throw out the first pitch Thursday night before thousands of Tampa Bay Rays fans at Tropicana Field.

Her father, a lieutenant colonel stationed in Afghanistan for most of the past two years, appeared on the stadium video screen. He said hello and told his daughter he would see her soon.

The 9-year-old Dunedin girl launched the ball and watched it bounce across the turf toward home plate.

A man wearing a Rays uniform and a catcher’s mask and pads squatted behind the plate. As the ball rolled toward him, he stepped forward and scooped the ball in his glove.

Alayna thought there was something odd about the way he caught the ball. It wasn’t quite how a professional ballplayer would do it.

The man at the plate stood and lifted his mask. It was her father, Lt. Col. Will Adams.

She sprinted to him. He swept her into his arms.

I know all to well how it feels to hold your children and wife after a long deployment, maybe thats why these type’s of reunions send chills up my spine.

So I am sure we have all been following the story out of Ohio about the three missing girls found, and of course Mr. Ramsey who helped rescue them. His personality has given us all a few laughs, but in his latest interview Mr. Ramsey sets an example!

When told by Anderson that the FBI had a reward for finding the women, Mr. Ramsey responded by saying, ” I tell you what you do, you give it to them. Because if folks been following this case since last night, and they been following me since last night you know I got a job anyway.” He then proceeds to pull his paycheck out of his pocket. “Just went and picked it up, paycheck.” he then says ” So yea, take that reward and give it to them.”

You Mr. Ramsey, are a true role model, and I would love to sit and have a few ribs and beers with you someday!

Here is the interview.

Visit us on FacebookStolen Valor

SPC.Mohamed A. Salim Courtesy RawStory.com

Mohamed A. Salim, a 39 Year old Army Reservist and Cab Driver who served in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, says that an executive from an aviation company accused him of being a jihadist and broke his jaw in what activists are calling a hate crime. Salim is a naturalized U.S. citizen and is an Army Reserve Sergeant who has worked in intelligence and as a linguist.

Courtesy David Edwards RawStory.Com

Mohamed A. Salim told The Washington Post that Emerald Aviation President Ed Dahlberg attacked him after he picked him up at Country Club of Fairfax in Northern Virginia at around 2 a.m. on Friday. Dahlberg had been drinking and was told that he would have to finish his open beer before getting into the cab.

Salim recorded audio of the encounter on his cell phone.

Dahlberg can be heard asking Salim, who emigrated from Somalia, to define “jihad” and then lumping him in with “radical fucking Muslims blowing people up all over the world.”

 

“Denounce those motherfuckers now!” Dahlberg demands. “If you’re a fucking Muslim flying jets into the fucking World Trade Center then fuck you. I will slice your fucking throat right now.”

 

After Salim threatens to call 911, Dahlberg can be seen grabbing for the cell phone.

 

Salim said that Dahlberg left the cab, but then returned and broke his jaw before running into the woods.

 

Dahlberg was charged with misdemeanor assault and police are determining if charges should be elevated to a felony hate crime. The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on Monday said that medical records and the 11-minute cell phone recording were being used as evidence in the case.

 

In a statement, Dahlberg’s attorney, Demetry Pikrallidas, admitted that his client “became rather emotional as the discussion turned to jihad and 9/11, and especially heated on the subject of jihadists who want to harm America.”
Pikrallidas insisted that Dahlberg did not assault Salim.

The website for Dahlberg’s company, Emerald Aviation, was offline for four days of “scheduled maintenance” as of Wednesday afternoon. A cached copy of the website listed him as the president and said he had “20 years experience in the field of business and commercial aviation” and was known for “transparent business transactions and always effectively representing the best interests of his clients.”

 

“I sacrificed for this country,” Salim told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. “And I myself was fighting the terrorists and I’m against acts of violence. I’m not a terrorist. I’m not a jihadist. I’m American like you.”

 

“Whether he’s guilty of assault or not is up to a jury to decide, but the video makes it clear that the guy is a bigoted asshole,” Jalopnik’s Patrick George observed on Wednesday. “There’s no excuse for treating someone else this way.”

 

 

Seems someone needs a lesson on the difference between a Muslim and an Extremist! Every religion has some sort of extremists, all it takes is a look at the history books.

News4 WOAI confronts several cases of Stolen Valor, cases that were posted by us and several other pages including our friends at thisainthell and the Fake Warrior Project. Included in the report is Tina Kerstens, who will be featured in part 2 of this two part series.
Here is part 1, we will post up part two when it becomes available:(Notice the teaser towards the end of the video)

Here is the full story courtesy if News 4 Veterans Outraged By Cases Of Stolen Valor

And here is part 2 of the story, The Tale of Tina Kerstens. Courtesy WOIA.COM.

To see our story on Kerstens you can go here..Tina Kerstens

Full story can be viewed here Stolen Valor Part Two

Grandpa Jack and Granddaughter Jaclyn

This was brought to our attention by a fan of the page, a story done by NBC4I out of Columbus Ohio.

Courtesy WWII Veteran To Be Evicted By Daughter And Son In Law

ZALESKI, Ohio -

A 91-year-old decorated World War II combat veteran is about to be evicted from a home he and his wife built and lived in for the last 54 years.

 

The elderly man’s lawyer said John Potter’s daughter and son-in-law used a power of attorney to sign Potter’s home into their name, and a court ruled in their favor.

Fifty four years ago, John and Evelyn Potter built a Vinton County home together in the small village of Zaleski.

 

Potter said he has lived in the village all his 91 years, except for the years he served his country including a fierce battle against the Japanese on Attu in the Aleutian Islands. Now, after almost a century of struggling to make a life in Ohio, he said he is about to be forced out of his home.

 

“I laid awake at night trying to figure out what in the world I could have done to these people to make them so angry at me,” said Potter.

He said the people he is referring to are his daughter and son-in-law, who he thought were looking out for him.

 

“In 2004, she signed his house, deeded his house to herself by power-of-attorney which in the state of Ohio is illegal,” said Potter’s granddaughter Jaclyn Fraley.

She took over as Potter’s power of attorney in 2010 after she and her grandfather became aware of the deed transfer.

 

Shortly after the discovery, Fraley and her grandfather petitioned a Vinton County Court to get his home back. That court ruled in his favor, but his daughter appealed that ruling and the appeals court ruled that she legally owned the home.

 

“Sadly once the property was granted back to them by the court of appeals, based on the statute of limitations having passed, we are left with no options,” Fraley said.

 

NBC4: “Where would you like to live for the rest of your life?

 

Potter: “Right in this house!”

 

Recently Fraley said they got more bad news in the form of a termination of lease or eviction notice.

A Vinton County judge could rule on the eviction and how much time Potter will be allowed to remain in the home during a hearing on April 22.

 

NBC4 asked Potter’s son-in-law and daughter about evicting her father.

“Actually, I can tell you an awful lot, simply because I’m the one who is doing it,” said Dean Cottrill.

 

Janis Cottrill is married to Dean, and is Potter’s daughter. They claim the family feud is over visitation rights for Potter’s other child, who has Autism.

“For him to stay in that home, it is real simple. Leave Joe alone and stop the lawsuits,” said Dean.

 

He said his wife Janis is upset over the feud and cries many nights.

 

“I would hope my mother would be a caring compassionate person and even though there is family difficulties she would still care and respect her father enough to let him spend his final days in his home,” said Fraley.

 

She said she and other family members are upset because the courts did not protect her grandfather’s rights.

 

“We are actually working to start drafting letters to our representatives in the legislature to create laws to protect against situations like this happening to anyone else,” Fraley said.

No matter what feud the family may be in, this Hero, one of our National Treasures who fought for this country, WILL NOT BE THROWN OUT IN THE YARD LIKE A PIECE OF TRASH!

He fought for this country, for OUR Freedom and HE DESERVES OUR RESPECT! He does not deserve to be thrown out of HIS house by anyone! We all stand with you Mr. Potter, It is because of men like you that I live free today. And I will not stand idly by while you are mistreated by anyone, or anything!

I will do my part and donate to his cause, I call on everyone that is able to do so as well. Appreciation is what I have for one of America’s greatest generations!

I have personally spoken to the Granddaughter, they have a facebook page setup for this Hero, go check it out and tell them we sent you. Grandpa John J Potter

She also has a donation page setup which you can access from the facebook page referenced above, she assures us that all fund will be going to help her Grandfather and she will provide proof if needed. Her goal is to purchase the home back from her mother. We also have her contact information to include her personal phone number. We got your back, Grandpa Jack!

UPDATE: 20130427  We want to help this Veteran, not hurt what his granddaughter is trying to do! Posting the personal information of the family members responsible does not accomplish this. Please do not post addresses and/or phone numbers in an effort to harass anyone, this does not get us to the end state we are looking for. If you want to help, go visit his facebook page or his go fundme page. Thanks for understanding!

Courtesy MyFoxOrlando

Fox35 out of Orlando, Florida reports that Eddie Colosimo, who runs Holy Hill’s Bikers for First Amendments Rights restaurant and bar, a non-profit that helps support military veterans, has been ordered to remove his Military flags as they are in violation of a city ordinance. Although the city ordinance was just passed in March, and he has been flying his flags for over two years.

Colosimo, a wounded Marine Corps vet, is passionate about United States Armed Forces.  His granddaughter, grandson, and son-in-law are all serving in different branches of the military.  So, Colosimo decided to fly military flags representing all our servicemen and women in front of his the restaurant.

 

“These flags represent our men and women all over the world for us today!” he said.

 

These flags have been here every weekend for two years, but just this week, Colosimo received a letter from the city informing him that flying the flags violates a new city code passed in March.

 

“The fines will start today (Friday) for every day the flags fly,” he told us.  “Please don’t try to tell me my Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force flags are flutter signs, and compare them to beer signs. That doesn’t fly!”

 

The new law requires businesses to apply for a permit to display a temporary sign or banner on their property; however, the American, POW, and state flags are allowed.

Now, Colosimo is being fined $300 a day by the City of Holly Hill.  Officials just announced that they will hold a special hearing in two weeks to discuss the matter.  For now, Colosimo says these flags aren’t going anywhere.

 

“You’re gonna tell me that I can’t honor them… show respect for them? I’m sorry. Bring your handcuffs. I’ll go to jail. I don’t care.” Courtesy MyFoxTampa

 

Seems Mr. Colosimo is in the right here in my opinion, he has been doing this for several years before this new law. I think the city should make an exception, it’s not like he is displaying anything offensive.

Here is the video interview:

FOX 35 News Orlando

I know we will catch flak from some because “it’s the law”, but I believe this Marine is standing for what he believes in!  And I love his comment ”You’re gonna tell me that I can’t honor them… show respect for them? I’m sorry. Bring your handcuffs. I’ll go to jail. I don’t care.”

Mr. Colosimo, we stand with you brother!

Here is the link to the original story posted by Fox Vet Defies City Ordinance Banning Display Of Military Flags