Massive Symbols of Strength in the Desert

Rocks are a symbolism of strength and the unmovable.

These rocks, some granite, are painted by the troops that receive specialized training in the desert at Fort Irwin in California. Each rock is hand painted by units that come in and exit by the hundreds and sometimes thousands.

The training that takes place at Fort Irwin prepares soldiers for the battlefield in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other desert land countries. There is even a large city built within the 7 square miles of Fort Irwin that resembles cities in the Middle East.

Rocks seen in these photos are at the Entrance of the Fort Irwin National Training Center, which is also known as a census-designated place in the Mojave Desert. A “Census Designated Place” is defined by the United States Census Bureau as a rural area that does not have legal status and may not correspond with the local understanding of the community in the same area.

Fort Irwin is not a new base and has a 15,000 year history filled with Native Americans. During the gold rush, the land was under an encampment of Captain John C. Freemont, the first member of the U.S. Army to utilize the land. The camp was a stopping point for pioneers crossing the Mojave Desert and allowed those passing through to stop for water and rest.

By 1855 the land was part of the route that freight wagons took from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, Utah. The Army patrolled the Fort Irwin area in the 1800's to ensure that raids and horse theft was not an issue, which it was in outlying areas.

The discovery of borax on the lands led to mining and some development.

In 1940, President Roosevelt established a 1,000 square mile “Mojave Anti Aircraft Range” in the area. In 1942, the desert land was officially named Fort Irwin in honor of Major General LeRoy Irwin, commander of the 57th Field Artillery Brigade during World War I.

A man and his dog on Hippie Hill

On Friday, I went with Beesley Animal Clinic to Hippie Hill to vaccinate dogs and hand out rabies tags (for free). I should specify, I will sometimes hold the dogs still while the Veterinarian gives the shots. That is pretty much the extent of my help other than driving to the always interesting areas.

While at Hippie Hill, I ran across a man who was once homeless in Murfreesboro. He is now living on the hill and just based on my observation, he is feeling better about life because he is now in a community as opposed to living alone under a bridge or on a side street somewhere in Murfreesboro.

Hippie Hill is not for everyone, but it does offer community for the lonely, the kicked to the curb, the outcast or the lost. Community is important for those struggling in the crazy and extreme world in which we live.

According to the dictionary, community is one of two things or either both: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. Community is also a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. To me, those are some of the most important things to have behind you as you fight to get on your feet.

For the man photographed, he said that he is an Army Veteran who talked about experiencing war time saga in the Middle East.

“My Pitbull is my service dog,” he said. While you don’t typically hear about Pitbull dogs being used as service animals he further explained, “In Nashville, they wouldn’t let me take er’ into the shelter even though it is my service animal – they even proclaimed that a Pitbull should never be a service dog.” Such a statement shows that the organization he visited does not value service animals because any breed of dog can be used as a service animal.

To be a comforting companion for the hurt, the distraught or the struggling, a service animal does not have to be specially registered to receive such a label. Service dogs have been proven beneficial in a major way for our Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. In fact, it is well documented that such animals are proven to offer comfort to those with a long list of mental illnesses.

As for the dog photographed next to his human, that human rescued and trained the animal. That human cares for the dog and the dog offers him comfort in a major way, despite the breed that is frowned upon by some.

It is 100% true that the man photographed could apply for a registered service dog with a variety of Veterans groups or directly through the VA, but the timeline for him to receive the new animal is unclear. There is a waiting list and a number of qualifications that he would have to meet before even being eligible to receive a certified service dog. One stipulation that many groups have is that the recipient of the animal have a real address.

Like many government waters that our Veterans have to wade through to get help, the waters are not only murky, but deep to receive a service animal.

According to the VA, every request for a service animal is reviewed and evaluated for the ability to care for the animal to be given to the recipient. They also review the goals that are to be accomplished through the use of the dog, sometimes failing to understand that the dog simply offers comfort during distress or loneliness.

One of the many issues that Veterans face in receiving proper help is that after wartime, many return changed by what they saw. That change could equal alcoholism without help in the beginning. Alcoholism without help mixed with high emotions could amount to fights on civilian property, bar brawls, etc. Those actions fall into a lack of control category with resulting DUI, assault, aggravated assault charges. The domino effect then ends with a drop in rank if still enlisted which could mean less pay upon separation or perhaps even a dishonorable discharge that could equal a lack of medical benefits. Many times, that discharge comes before the service member received the proper help for what they saw while fighting for our country as enlisted to do so.

Trauma shapes the brain in a major way and in some circumstances, the brain of someone who has yet to even have a fully developed thinking process. As an example, if someone were to enlist at age 18 and see hand to hand combat at 19, that trauma witnessed will change the way they think in a major way because scientist and psychologist have confirmed that the brain continues to develop up to age 25.

In an NPR interview recorded in 2011, Dr. Sandra Aamodt stated, “The car rental companies got to it first, but neuroscientists have caught up and brain scans show clearly that the brain is not fully finished developing until about age 25.”

Now, back to the service dog… When a Veteran is dishonorably discharged they are almost instantly disqualified to receive an animal. But, if a Veteran is approved for a service dog, the Veteran is then referred to an outside agency approved by the government to provide specialized dogs. From there, the Veterans name is added to a waiting list to receive the animal.

An ADA’s ruling from 1990 will not allow for the title of “Service Animal” for just any dog. However, the ruling does not specify any particular breed, which means any dog can be titled a service dog. Of course that equals more confusion when you factor in that legally speaking, there is not a hard and fast certification required for a service animal. But, the service animal training community self regulates the standards for training a service animal.

Multiple rulings from the 1990’s show case after case where persons with service animals living in public housing won their suit allowing for them to own and have their dogs on properties that do not allow for pets.

One ruling from 1990 shows that an ESA animal or an “Emotional Support Animal,” does not have to receive any specific training to provide therapeutic benefit to an individual with mental or psychiatric disability. Another ruling that unfolded in the courts started in 1990 and ended in 1998 after a judge ruled that a property manager violated federal statutes when requiring proof from tenants that their dog had received specialized training to become a service animal (Green v. Housing Authority of Clackamas County). A ruling from 2013 suggested that a college dorm had violated a student’s rights in regards to fair housing when they would not allow for her service animal to live with her in the dorm (United States v. Univ. of Neb. at Kearney). Cases like this continue with rulings falling to the favor of the service animal owner.

So, if one man who suffers from the negative yet heroic impacts of war while fighting for his country believes and sees his animal as his service dog, then so be it. I will recognize his animal as well – just as the folks at Hippie Hill do.

“Dogs don’t rationalize. They don’t hold anything against a person. They don’t see the outside of a human but the inside of a human.” —Cesar Millan (dog trainer)

Pink Hair and Positive Goals

You can never judge a book by its cover or a man with pink hair and horns tattooed to his forehead for that matter, until you learn where he has been and the goals in life he has ahead of him.

Meet Robert who is currently homeless in Tennessee:

“I was born in Springfield, Tennessee,” he told me as we started to talk. Robert has been clean from Heroin and Meth since November 2, 2016.

I asked how expensive of a habit drugs were and he replied, “Meth is about $10 for a tenth of a gram – so $100 a gram - and Heroin, you’re looking at about $25 for a tenth.”

He then talked about the amount of heroin he used, “I spent about $60 to $80 a day on it and that won’t even keep me high all day.” You can shoot both heroin and meth into your veins with a needle or snort the drugs.

I asked if people on the street use dirty needles when shooting heroin or meth and he said, “I’ve seen it happen – them just rinse it out with water or even peroxide… Peroxide is not going to clean any disease out of a needle.”

Regardless of his past, he has big dreams of helping others in front of him… “I eventually want to go back to school,” he told me. “I want to be a social worker to help kids – like do a mobile crisis for children,” Robert explained. Helping children before their problems get too big to handle, is what he wants to do. Robert said that he has attempted suicide at least six times and stated, “I want to help children before they get to where I’ve been.”

He has a few tattoos that he no longer wants. One of those tattoos are the horns on either side of his forehead. “I got those this last year in the Coffee County Jail,” he said with a laugh. Someday, he would like to remove those along with the ink on his right and left fingers that read, “ZOOM ZOOM.” He got the nickname of ZOOM ZOOM from other drug users he called friends. “I got it whenever I was using meth a lot – I plan on getting this covered up one day,” he said with a smile.

A tattoo that he wants to get that will be a constant reminder of the need to stay sober is the date of 11-02-2016. “I’m gonna’ put it on my left wrist because I am left handed and every time I do something I’ll look down and be able to see it. I use to shoot up left handed.”

“How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

On a side note, I took the photo in front of a police car after he told me he has been in about half of the Murfreesboro Police cars in our city. :)

Standing Guard in Murfreesboro, TN

Standing Guard in front of the Murfreesboro Police Department: Since the FBI warned of police killing ‘purges,’ local citizens are becoming more concerned about the safety of men and women in blue.

As of Monday (7/11/16), a direct threat against law enforcement in Tennessee has not been made. But, that is not stopping an armed Tennessee Army National Guard Specialist from standing guard in front of the Murfreesboro Police Station for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Specialist Will Ray told me that after talking to a Murfreesboro Police Officer who told him about the so called purge, he and several friends decided to start “Operation Blue Streak.”

Specialist Ray stood in front of the Murfreesboro Police Headquarters Monday to protect and look out for the men and women in blue.

I asked him what he was armed with and he told me, “Well, I’m a medic with the field artillery unit, so um, pretty much I’m just in my regular fatigues, my load bearing vest with my medical gear, I’ve got my medical bag in the car and my Ruger .40 with me.”

The Tennessee National Guard was not as enthusiastic about the idea as Specialist Ray was on Monday. They ordered him to stand down when they found out about it.

The Guard released a statement that read, "He was not called up by the Governor. He was acting out of his own accord and his unit has been notified. He has also been notified that he cannot do this as a representative of the Tennessee National Guard. If he still chooses to do so out of uniform, then that is up to him." 

Homeless in Atlanta

It was a hot and humid day in downtown Atlanta. Dan, who is homeless, told me that he is aiming to make a move to Miami, Florida in the near future.

“I was stationed at Ft. Knox and later in Houston,” he told me while talking about his years in the United States Army. “I later ended up in Germany, but my troubles started in Tampa,” he said while concentrating. “What happened in Tampa,” I asked with curiosity. “Well, the people were racist to me, not all of them but some,” he said after taking a slight pause. “They wouldn’t let me back in the Army,” he cut the story short but went back to the idea of moving to Miami.

“Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause.”  - Abraham Lincoln

82nd Airborne Division

He was once in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army. Today, he calls the streets of Atlanta, GA home.

“So, how did you get to Atlanta,” I asked. He grinned, “When I had a weekend pass I’d come to Atlanta because I loved it, after the Army I just stayed here.”

The 82nd was initially nicknamed “All American” because of the diversity of the states that the soldiers originally came from when it was first formed. Today the patch still highlights that, “AA.”  

Sergeant Alvin C. York, who once served in the 82nd Infantry Division, stated this after capturing 132 German Soldiers during World War I (in regards to keeping the German Prisoners of War safe):

“On the way back we were constantly under heavy shell fire and I had to double time them to get them through safely. There was nothing to be gained by having any more of them wounded or killed. They had surrendered to me, and it was up to me to look after them. And so I did.”

Vietnam at age 17

“I lost my older brother in Vietnam,” he told me while looking away to think. “When we joined the Army he was 19 and I went in at only 17 years old,” he then paused… “I did two tours.”

Mark Thiebold, who calls a tent his home in Nashville, TN, served our country in the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army while in Vietnam. Total, he served in the Army for 12 years both in America and abroad.

Thiebold went into Vietnam in 1971. At the time, the United States Government was sending troops from the 82nd Division into both South Korea and Vietnam (1969 and into the mid 1970’s). The 82nd also worked side by side the 101st in some operations. He told me, “My job was to blow up bridges and build bridges, we killed innocent people.” 

It was once one of the largest Army and German P.O.W. Bases in the South

Prior to World War II, a large military base formed in Union County Kentucky. The United States Government came in and gave farmers below what would be considered fair market value at the time for their land. The flat acreage where you could see as far as 16-miles proved to be the perfect training grounds troops to learn war weaponry of guns and tanks. The rural area is a little over an hour away from Clarksville near the Indiana state line.

Camp Breckinridge in Union County was the headquarters of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

As World War II broke out in 1937, the U.S. Army quickly realized they needed a place to house German Prisoners of War. The base in Union County became the official P.O.W. prison camp housing 3,000 Germans.

The base population stood at about 45 thousand residents prior and during WWII and later the Korean War. The large base was also home to basic training for new Army recruits in the 30’s and 40’s.

Today, the population in Union County, Kentucky is about 15,000 residents. Of course, that is a drastic drop compared to the 45,000 military residents and 3,000 inmates that called Union County home between 1930 and 1950.

Most of the old World War II era barracks that were left standing were sold to investors in the 1970’s as the land was divided, but the majority of the military classrooms, prison walls, prison cells, cafeteria’s and stores on the massive base were torn down when the government shut the base down. Investors later hired contractors to perform low cost renovations on the interior of the 1930 era barracks dividing them into duplexes so that they could be rented out to residents of low income brackets.

As we drove through what was once the base, every 50 to 100 feet you could see large smoke stacks protruding through heavily dense wooded areas that were to my right and left. I then stopped the truck and walked into the woods to further examine the stack's. I could still see the concrete foundations to old military buildings that probably went for miles. There were 50 or more stacks on the land in the area near the old barracks.

A railroad once ran between the military base and the Ohio River, which was only about 7 miles away. Supplies were shipped to the base on barges and by rail. 
On the banks of the river, we found a massive chain that may have once been used to tie off the barges while they unloaded. The large chain was about six inches in diameter.

As you look at these photos, imagine it a base that was once alive and vibrant.

Heroin in a U.S. Veteran

He grasped my shoulder as he made his way down his front steps. He is usually in a wheelchair, but he wanted to walk outside on his own two feet. “I was once shot five times,” he told me as he pulled up his shirt to show me the scars.

We continued to talk and he continued to share stories about his past. “I was a heroin addict, but have been clean for a long time,” he said while rolling up his sleeves, “I have HIV from shooting up in the past.” 

He said that he was once ashamed of the fact that he has HIV, but now he does not mind sharing what was once painful because now it is simply a part of life that he has lived with since 1994.

I later realized that he served our country in combat while in the U.S. Army. I was standing before an aging Vietnam Veteran who shares a small apartment with several others. He came home from the foreign land with images that were likely unshakable which may have contributed to his past battle on U.S. soil with alcohol and Heroin. But, that battle is mostly behind him. Today, he battles balance, sight and age.

Pax Prentiss who opened Passages, a rehab center in Malibu, once wrote in the The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure, “Heroin was a coping mechanism that I had used to deal with my underlying fears. They were the real problems; heroin wasn't the culprit, my fears were.”