America Army

  V ermont State Police say they have found the body of a man believed to have gone missing earlier this month along the Appalachian Trail in Rutland County. According to state police, crews had focused their efforts Friday on the brook after a witness  reported seeing Kerker  at the Stony Brook Shelter on the Appalachian Trail the night of July 9. The witness said severe rain and flooding that struck Vermont starting July 10 had elevated water levels on the Stony Brook and made the trail’s crossing of the stream dangerous. Kerker is not known to have been seen again following that encounter. The Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team, Killington Search and Rescue, the Killington Police Department, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles and New England K9 Search and Rescue participated in the effort Friday afternoon to recover Kerker’s remains. The body was brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death

  A couple years ago,  I randomly wrote a post  because I was so affected by a photo exhibit at the Whitney Museum. The photos documented the life of Marine Tyler Ziegel, who suffered horrific burns during a suicide bomb attack in Iraq; the photographer,  Nina Berman , was awarded the  World Press Photo’s portraiture award  in 2006 and Ziegel became one of the iconic images of the hell of war. After writing that post, I might not have thought much more about Ziegel, who by all accounts lived a quiet life. But through some strange fluke with Google,  that post  ended up being one of the first search results for Ziegel’s name. The steady stream of visitors to it was a constant reminder of his sacrifice. He inspired such admiration and compassion that that random post is by far the most viewed page on this blog. Sgt. Ziegel died last week on Dec. 26, 2012,  after falling on ice . He was 30. Berman’s image is unforgettable. But Ziegel’s story after the blast is also compelling.  Peopl

  Mitch Hunter, now 35, was left disfigured after a horror smash 14 year ago which saw his vehicle plough into a 10,000 volt electrical pylon The full face transplant recipient who suffered horrific burns in an auto crash describes the remarkable transformation Hunter talks about his radical face transplant which has transformed his life leading him from a PTSD patient to a positive outlook Mitch Hunter: ‘The new me’ Mitch Hunter, now 35, was left disfigured after a horror smash 14 year ago which saw his vehicle plough into a 10,000 volt electrical pylon which literally melted the skin off his face and neck . 21-year-old Hunter, who served in the US army, needed 20 skin grafts from his leg and back after the brutal accident. Today he says that when his now-wife fell pregnant, he put himself forward for a full face transplanthe. He became the third person in the world to receive a full facial transplant earlier this year as he shares his journey to ‘full transformation’. Servicema

   Something cool happened last week- my great grandma turned 100 years old! (Did I ever tell you I'm going to live to be 102?) We are pretty proud of her around here. In addition to raising my grandma and 5 other children, who were likely just as much of a handful growing up as they are now, she has worked hard and led an interesting life. "Old Grandma" didn't get to finish school the first time around. She had to drop out to help her family. I know she wishes she could have finished because she once told me her dream job would be a high school English teacher. When she was in her 80's, I think, she earned her GED! Old Grandma is a crossword puzzle whiz. She always used to have one on the table when we would go visit. In the last couple of years, her eyesight has started to go which makes crossword puzzles understandably difficult, but she is still so sharp! Another accomplishment is that she has been married to her younger man, Old Grandpa, for almost 75 ye

  1 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 2 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 3 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 4 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 5 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 6 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + 7 / 7 SHOW CAPTION + WASHINGTON, (Soldiers Magazine, Jan. 26, 2011) -- In the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, appearance is almost everything and plastic surgery - to achieve the perfect body, the perfect face, and perfect skin - is commonplace if tabloids and TV shows can be believed. So, as soap opera star J.R. Martinez of "All My Children" sees it, he fits right in. After all, he's had more than 30 surgeries. The only difference between Martinez and other young actors: Instead of getting a nose job or Botox shots from high-priced Beverly Hills surgeons, Martinez spent more than two years at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, undergoing skin grafts and treatments for burns that covered 40 percent of his body. That's because Martinez - who plays Brot Monroe, an Army veteran burned in combat - used to be Cpl. J.R. Martinez of th