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Month: July 2022
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HONOLULU — A U.S. defense contractor and his wife who lived for decades under the identities of two dead Texas children have been charged with identity theft and conspiring against the government, according to federal court records unsealed in Honolulu.
Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison, both in their late 60s, who allegedly lived for decades under the names Bobby Edward Fort and Julie Lyn Montague, respectively, were arrested Friday in Kapolei on the island of Oahu.
Prosecutors are seeking to have the couple held without bail, which could indicate the case is about more than defrauding the government to obtain drivers’ licenses, passports and Defense Department credentials.
Primrose had secret security clearance with the U.S. Coast Guard and as a defense contractor and old photos show the couple wearing uniforms of the KGB, the former Russian spy agency, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Muehleck said. Faded Polaroids of each in uniform were included in the motion to have them held.
A “close associate” of Morrison said she lived in Romania while it was a Soviet bloc country, Muehleck said.
Prosecutors said there is a high risk the couple would flee if freed. They also suggested that Primrose, who was an avionics electrical technician in the Coast Guard, was highly skilled to communicate secretly if released.
The couple is also believed to have other aliases, Muehleck said.
Lawyers for the couple declined to comment. A bail hearing is scheduled Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Primrose and Morrison were born in 1955 and they attended high school together in Port Lavaca, Texas, and then went to Stephen F. Austin University, according to court records. They married in 1980.
There is no indication in court papers why the couple in 1987 assumed the identities of deceased children who would have been more than a decade younger than them. But an affidavit filed by Special Agent Dennis Thomas of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service noted that the couple lost their home in Nacogdoches, Texas, to foreclosure that year.
Court records don’t provide any information about what happened from the time they assumed their new identities until 1994 when Primrose, then about 39, enlisted in the Coast Guard as Fort, who would have been about 27. Primrose served in the service until 2016 when he began work for an unnamed U.S. defense contractor at the U.S. Coast Guard Air station at Barbers Point.
“While he held that Secret clearance with the U.S. Coast Guard, defendant Primrose was required to report any foreign travel,” prosecutors wrote. “Investigation has revealed that defendant Primrose did not report several trips to Canada while he did report other foreign travel.”
The couple is charged with aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S. and false statement in application for a passport.
Melley reported from Los Angeles.
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The Korean War Veterans Memorial was rededicated today with a new feature: a “Wall of Remembrance” that features the names of the more than 43,000 U.S. service members and Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army who were killed during the war.
“Today … we commemorate the sacrifice of those Americans and Koreans who bravely fought together, side-by-side to defend our freedom, laying the foundation for a thriving Democratic Republic of Korea and a strong, unbreakable United States/Republic of Korea alliance,” Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff said.
The Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington was first dedicated 27 years ago, on July 27, 1995. Construction on the rededicated memorial began in March 2021. The $22 million project was funded by donations from the peoples of the United States and South Korea, formally named the Republic of Korea.
The names on the Wall of Remembrance are arranged in order of rank and branch of service to demonstrate to visitors how the war’s burden fell unevenly across the military.
Another important element of the wall is that the names of U.S. service members and Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army are not listed separately. Instead, they’re mingled together — just as they fought together during the war.
Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army, or KATUSAs, are members of the Republic of Korea Army who are assigned to the U.S. Army, wear U.S. Army uniforms, and are equipped with the same gear as U.S. soldiers. They also live and fight alongside U.S. soldiers. The KATUSA concept was first developed during the Korean War and continues today.
“This wall reminds us of the depths of their sacrifice and instills in us a call of duty to carry on their fight,” Korean Ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong said. “The service members we are here today to honor stood their ground in battlefields so that future generations could live in a vibrant democracy — indeed, the Republic of Korea is a vibrant democracy today. Recognizing this, I promise to follow their lead and work to build an even stronger ROK/U.S. alliance. On behalf of the whole of Korean people, I’d like to express my gratitude to all the veterans of the Korean War and their families. We are eternally and profoundly grateful.”
According to statistics from the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, the Wall of Remembrance features the names of 29,857 U.S. soldiers, 4,522 U.S. Marines, 668 U.S. sailors, 1,587 U.S. airmen, and 7,174 Korean augmentees to the U.S. Army. A total of 43,808 names appears on the wall.
“It’s beautiful monument,” Emhoff said. “It’s a poignant reminder of the individual sacrifices of the more than 36,000 U.S. service members and the more than 7,000 Korean troops who served together and died together in Korea. Their names are now forever engraved here on our incredible Washington mall.”
In addition to the Wall of Remembrance, work at the Korean War Veterans Memorial included: refinishing the 19, 8–feet–tall, stainless-steel statues that represent service members from each of the U.S. military services that fought in the war, replacing the engraved names of participating countries and casualty figures with stainless steel letters, and extensive landscaping efforts.
Chairman of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, retired Army Gen. John H. Tilelli Jr. said the Wall of Remembrance and enhancements to the memorial will better educate visitors on the importance of remembering the Korean War.
“We are hopeful that this memorial will remind the millions of people who visit here each year that freedom is not free,” Tilelli said.
The foundation, he said, had three goals when redesigning and rededicating the memorial:
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To honor those who fought in the war and ensured a free and democratic South Korea.
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To educate visitors about the cost of war. Nearly 1,000 soldiers died each month during the 37 months the war was fought.
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To show the strength of the existing ironclad ROK/U.S. alliance.
“Today, we honor the veterans of the Korean War and the families of the fallen heroes,” Tilelli said. “With this dedication ceremony, I hope that it is no longer the ‘Forgotten War,’ but the ‘remembered victory’ that was won by these veterans.”
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Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps Veteran Don A. Jones, who served during WWII and later became director of the USC&GS.
Don A. Jones was born in Waldron, Michigan, in September 1912. He attended Michigan State University, where he studied engineering. After graduating in 1933, Jones joined the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) as a civilian employee. He was commissioned as an ensign in 1940. In 1942, after the U.S. joined World War II, Jones was temporarily transferred to the Army. He served as a coast artillery staff officer, a surveying and mapping officer and commanded a submarine mine planter. He also served with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) from 1944 to 1946, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.
After the war, Jones returned to USC&GS. He served aboard various survey ships, conducting mapping and triangulation work along both coasts of the U.S. In 1957, Jones was transferred to the State Department to serve as project chief for geodetic control surveys in Ethiopia, working to map the headwaters of the Blue Nile River. When he returned to the U.S. in 1961, he became assistant chief of the Geodesy Division. Jones was then assigned as executive officer of the survey ship USC&GS Surveyor. After a year in that position, he took command of Surveyor for the remainder of the ship’s tour, conducting survey and oceanographic work in Alaska, Hawaii and the North Pacific. In 1966, Jones became associate director of the Office of Hydrography and Oceanography. The following year, he was appointed associate administrator of the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). Jones served in that post until 1968, when he became director of USC&GS.
In 1970, ESSA was reorganized into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and USC&GS became the National Ocean Survey (NOS). President Richard Nixon appointed Jones as director of NOS; Jones held the position until 1972, when he retired with the rank of rear admiral after 39 years of service.
Jones died on Aug. 6, 2000, at the age of 87.
We honor his service.
Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Writer: Stephen Hill
Editors: Nathaniel Scott, Annabelle Colton
Researchers: Timothy Georgetti, Giacomo Ferrari
Graphic artist: Kiki Kelley
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A surprise deal on health care and environmental policies announced by Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday afternoon produced an unexpected casualty: the comprehensive toxic exposure legislation veterans advocates expected to pass this week.
The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — better known as the PACT Act — had been up for a procedural vote in the chamber with an expectation of final passage before the end of the week.
The measure is the culmination of years of work by advocates to improve health care and benefits for veterans suffering injuries from burn pit smoke, Agent Orange spraying and other military contaminant exposure. It has been widely celebrated as a potential landmark legislative victory in veterans policy.
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The measure passed the Senate by a comfortable 84-14 vote in early June, and by a 342-88 vote in the House two weeks ago with significant Republican support.
But on Wednesday, after technical corrections sent the measure back to the Senate for another procedural vote, 41 Senator Republicans blocked the measure, leaving its future uncertain.
Republican lawmakers who had previously voted against the measure, including Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., reiterated objections to how the money connected to the measure (about $300 billion over 10 years) would be accounted for in the regular appropriations process.
But the block came just as Democratic leaders announced plans for a comprehensive budget reconciliation measure — a plan that the GOP caucus previously pledged to oppose, including increased efforts to snarl normal business in the chamber.
Democratic leaders immediately attacked their colleagues putting political vendettas ahead of needed veterans benefits.
“This eleventh-hour act of cowardice will actively harm this country’s veterans and their families,” said Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont. “Republicans chose today to rob generations of toxic-exposed veterans across this country of the health care and benefits they so desperately need.
“And make no mistake, more veterans will suffer and die as a result.”
Eight Senate Republicans — including Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kansas — voted for moving ahead with the bill.
Republican leaders gave no public comment on the reasons behind the surprise move, or on what changes would be needed to move the legislation ahead. The Senate is scheduled to go on a month-long recess on Aug. 5, and advocates had hoped to have the PACT Act on the president’s desk before then.
That timeline appears out of reach now.
If it becomes law, about one in five living American veterans could benefit from the PACT Act.
For veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bill would establish a presumption of service connection for 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to the smoke from burn pits, used extensively in those war zones to dispose of various types of waste, many of them toxic.
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The bill also provides for new benefits for veterans who faced radiation exposure during deployments throughout the Cold War; adds hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy to the list of illnesses linked to Agent Orange exposure in the Vietnam War; expands the timeline for Gulf War medical claims; and requires new medical exams for all veterans with toxic exposure claims.
Veterans who served in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Guam during the Vietnam War-era would be covered for the first time under the same Agent Orange presumptive policies as those who served in Vietnam itself.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced the outline of the budget reconciliation deal with details to come next week.
According to the Associated Press, officials said the plan would spend about $369 billion on energy and climate initiatives and $64 billion to extend expiring federal subsidies for people buying health insurance.
It would also raise $739 billion in revenue over 10 years, the biggest chunk coming from a 15% corporate minimum tax.
Democratic lawmakers and veterans advocates are scheduled to rally for PACT Act passage Thursday morning. Chamber leaders said they would keep working on finding a path forward for the legislation in coming days.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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Because of the local COVID-19, ZEN SIETE SURPLUS is proud to lend a hand with our veterans in need. We make sure that they …
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House lawmakers warned that they may kill off the Department of Veterans Affairs costly and complicated electronic health records modernization effort unless officials can show significant progress in coming months.
Administrators “have to fundamentally improve,” said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Illinois, ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, during a hearing on the topic Wednesday. “If we don’t see major progress by early next year, when VA says they intend to roll [the effort] out to larger sites, we will have to seriously consider pulling the plug.”
“I hope the situation can somehow be turned around. But everyone involved in this needs to understand that the consequences are real, and that there are no blank checks.”
The criticism from House members came amid the second tense hearing for VA health records officials in the past week.
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On July 20, members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee grilled department leaders over new delays in the 10-year modernization effort and reports that the $16 billion price tag could more than triple in coming years.
Just a few days earlier, the VA Inspector General’s office released a new report detailing 149 cases of patient harm caused by the implementation of the new Oracle Cerner Millennium records software over a nine-month period at the department’s hospital in Spokane, Washington.
A flaw in the system sent about 11,000 orders to an unknown and unchecked file, where requests for items such as appointments or blood tests went unanswered. In at least two cases, the lost files caused “major harm” to patients.
The health records overhaul was announced by then-President Donald Trump in 2017 as a way to bring veterans health records onto the same system as the military, providing troops with a lifelong medical file.
But the effort has been beset by problems for the past few years. The new software has been deployed to sites in Ohio and Washington, but additional planned rollouts for 2022 have been delayed until 2023 amid the mounting concerns.
In testimony Wednesday, Dr. Terry Adirim, director of the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office, pushed back on the cost overrun estimates, saying they are based on the assumption putting the system in place will take more than 10 years.
“We are still in the process of planning for a 10-year deployment and we should have a schedule out sometime in the fall,” she said. “However, there have been delays, and so it’s reasonable to expect that it could go beyond that, and we are doing that kind of contingency planning.”
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Lawmakers called the situation troubling.
Bost said he intends to draft legislation protecting patients and taxpayers from the program spiraling out of control.
If Republicans win control of the House in the November election, he likely will take over as chairman of the committee and would wield considerable legislative power on the issue.
Current committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-California, said he still believes that the department must upgrade its records system but “I will not sit idly by and allow this program to endanger veterans.”
Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Montana, called the system “fully dysfunctional” and said he believes it is “not safe or suitable to roll out anywhere else.”
Other panel members said they will work with VA officials to “hold program officials accountable,” which could mean reprimands and dismissals in coming months.
VA officials have promised overhauls to the training programs to better prepare staff for future deployments. Leaders at Oracle Cerner have said publicly they are committed to fixing past problems with the system.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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A side-by-side comparison is provided for the two existing commercial seats for the Veteran Sherman. Zoom Wheels Seat: …
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Train how you fight. And, if you’re stationed aboard the oldest commissioned Navy vessel, that means occasionally climbing into the topsails for a little Master and Commander-style training.
Earlier this month, sailors aboard the USS Constitution conducted a climbing evolution, heading up into the rigging and sails of a ship that was commissioned all the way back in the 18th century. It’s certainly not a job for someone who is afraid of heights.
Serving aboard the USS Constitution is considered a special duty, as most of the job is interacting with visitors each day. But it also means, unsurprisingly, that the sailors have to know a bit about sailing.
“I ask my sailors to be an 1812 sailor some days, but I also have to make sure they’re a 2022 sailor and ready to go do the mission the Navy asked of them,” the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Billie Farrell said in a Navy press release earlier this year.
Climbing into the rigging is a chance for the sailors to practice handling lines and sails and operating a ship that is almost as old as the United States itself.
“I’m among one of the very few sailors in the United States Navy that will be a true square rig sailor,” said a member of the ship’s crew in 2019. “And that comes with traits such as knowing how to line handle and set a square sail and how to climb the shrouds and furl a sail.”
When the ship left the harbor in 1997, the crew at the time had to learn many of the tasks that would have been essential to their counterparts 200 years earlier
Moored in Boston, the USS Constitution is a relic from the age of sail, and serves as a museum ship, open to the public. It doesn’t sail much these days, but given its long history, it’s currently the only Navy ship afloat that has sunk an enemy vessel.
First commissioned in 1797, the USS Constitution was one of the Navy’s original six frigates. In the ship’s earlier years, it was one of the fastest and most formidable ships on the high seas. During an engagement with the HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812, British cannonballs were supposedly bouncing off the ship’s 22-inch thick hull, earning it the nickname of “Old Ironsides.”
Today, at Naval Support Activity Crane, near Bloomington, Indiana, the Navy still maintains a forest of white oak trees, just like those used in the original construction of the ship, in order to maintain and refurbish its hull.
The USS Constitution continued on in active service until the middle of the 19th century when advances in technology made it obsolete. The ship was later used to train Naval Academy midshipmen, but its notoriety saved it from the scrapyards. The ship spent decades in Boston Harbor as a floating barracks, being periodically decommissioned and recommissioned. In the 1920s, the ship was once again restored to seaworthy condition.
In 1997, to commemorate the ship’s bicentennial, the ship actually sailed on its own for the first time in more than 100 years.
And today, it continues as both a museum and an active duty Navy ship, complete with a crew of sailors on special duty. It also hosts annual Chief Petty Officer Heritage Weeks, where newly selected chief petty officers get a chance to practice some older nautical skills, like handling lines and sails, or a 24-pound naval long gun.
The opportunity to climb into the rigging like a Napoleonic War-era sailor? Sounds better than serving on a Littoral Combat Ship, which the USS Constitution will almost certainly outlast.
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Saw the post below on LinkedIn and thought you might find it helpful. I have used it and it has been a great tool for finding vets at companies where I want to network. The Veteran News Search tool is also pretty amazing. And it’s all 100% free.
“Today is National Hire a Veteran Day. To celebrate, we’ve launched the new version of YouGotHeroes. Check it out and please share: https://www.yougotheroes.com
National Hire a Veteran Day was created as a way to encourage employers to consider hiring veterans for their open positions. YouGotHeroes makes it easy to find Veterans looking for a job, and U.S. military veterans at any company, in any industry, in any location, and a lot more!”
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