Category Archives: Photos

Grandfather, grandson bond in service to troops

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By Asha Anchan, News21

Connor Love stands by the graveside of Army Cpl. Jeremiah W. Robinson in Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park in Mesa, Ariz. Love frequents the memorial garden to honor fallen soldiers and make sure Robinson's gravesite is kept clean.(Photo by Asha Anchan, News21)

Connor Love stands by the graveside of Army Cpl. Jeremiah W. Robinson in Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park in Mesa, Ariz. Love frequents the memorial garden to honor fallen soldiers and make sure Robinson’s gravesite is kept clean. (Photo by Asha Anchan, News21)

Howard Love calls his 9-year-old grandson the most patriotic youngster he knows. Connor Love, wearing his Army hat and camo Vans, just listens.

Five years ago, he and his grandpa were sipping their weekly coffee at Starbucks – Connor takes his with milk and a few drops of coffee – when the boy pointed across the street and asked his grandfather what the flags and flowers meant.

He took Connor to Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park in Mesa, Ariz., where the two happened upon the grave of Army Cpl. Jeremiah W. Robinson, a Mesa native who was killed by an improvised explosive device in late 2005.

Connor noticed that the gravesite wasn’t very well kept. He didn’t know Robinson, but he straightened the flag and cleaned the graveside bench.

Now Connor is a regular at Mariposa Gardens; nearly every Saturday he says, “Let’s go check his flag.”

Howard Love proudly talks about his 9-year-old grandson's patriotism. The two of them send care packages to the troops every two weeks. (Photo by Asha Anchan, News21)

Howard Love proudly talks about his 9-year-old grandson’s patriotism. The two of them send care packages to the troops every two weeks. (Photo by Asha Anchan, News21)

He and his grandfather do good deeds to honor the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Howard Love supports 11 troops in Iraqi and Afghan combat zones by sending bi-weekly packages that include items such as socks and snacks.

Last year Love spent $13,000 collecting items and shipping them to the troops. It’s an investment, he said, and he’s proud of his grandson for being so invested as well.

Love calls Connor an “old soul” – quiet, collected and mature for his age.

Sometimes when they’re in the car and the words Iraq or Afghanistan make it into a newscast, Connor pipes in, “Did we lose anyone?”

“People don’t really think he understands what he’s doing, but I think he understands more than people give him credit for,” Love said. “He knows there’s a war, and he knows there’s guys that go and don’t come back.”

From ‘reverent’ cemeteries to Crossfit gyms, 21-Gun Salutes

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By Daniel Moore and Riley Johnson

Veterans and deceased service members are honored at a Memorial Day event at the Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetary in Chandler, Ariz. (Photo by Mauro Whiteman, News21)

Veterans and deceased service members are honored at a Memorial Day event at the Valley of the Sun Mortuary and Cemetary in Chandler, Ariz. (Photo by Mauro Whiteman, News21)

Leather-clad veterans sat atop roaring Harley Davidsons in the Valley of the Sun Cemetery Monday. The American Legion Riders straddled their bikes from the opening colors presentation through the booming 21-gun salute, dove release and taps.

An hour later and a few miles up the road, nearly a dozen exercise enthusiasts gathered to hear Dairus Barnes instruct them about another kind of “21-Gun Salute”: pull-ups, box jumps, fireman carry squats, box jumps and pull-ups. Twenty-one repetitions of each.

These two very different scenes in Chandler, Ariz., marked two very different Memorial Day celebrations. Each had its own message, but they shared a common purpose: Honor America’s armed forces and veterans.

“It’s about community,” said Anne-Marie Chun, watching her husband, Army veteran Daniel Chun, struggle with hoisting his workout partner onto his shoulders. It makes all the difference in moving forward, she said, to have support when re-entering civilian life.

Barnes coordinated the event, which was introduced nationally by Team Red, White and Blue, a Michigan-based nonprofit designed to connect veterans to their community through physical and social activities.

Barnes, an Army chaplain and owner of CrossFit Crew, joined the Army in January 2005.

U.S. Army veteran Daniel Chun participates in a Memorial Day workout in Chandler, Ariz. (Photo by Mauro Whiteman, News21)

U.S. Army veteran Daniel Chun participates in a Memorial Day workout in Chandler, Ariz. (Photo by Mauro Whiteman, News21)

In a nearly hour-long workout, participants had to “pay for their memory,” he said.

The men and women — and even some children — who struggled through pull-ups and fireman carry squats made a personal sacrifice that approached the sacrifice of America’s armed forces and veterans, Barnes said. He plans to organize similar events for Sept. 11 and Veterans Day as well as Memorial Day next year.

Tom Will, commander of American Legion Post 35 in Chandler, asked the crowd to remember the is more than a holiday.

“Remembering our fallen once a year is not enough,” he said. “The widows, widowers, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children remember them every day.”

Families of post-9/11 vets pay tribute on Memorial Day

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By Colton Totland, News21

Memorial Day visitors at the National Cemetery of Arizona were treated to a flyover Monday morning by pilots in World War Two-era planes. (Photo by Colton Totland, News21)

Memorial Day visitors at the National Cemetery of Arizona were treated to a flyover Monday morning by pilots in World War Two-era training planes. (Photo by Colton Totland, News21)

In T-shirts that depict John Larson as a smiling Army recruit, his family each year follows the row of headstones that lead to his grave.

Unlike many of those buried around him, Larson’s death came not from combat, but in a room at Fort Hood, Texas. Haunted by war and burdens at home, he committed suicide, his brother said.

Larson’s death is an extreme circumstance among post-9/11 veterans returning every month to another battle: transition to civilian life. Memorial Day belongs to these veterans as well, something that was clear Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, where the Larsons paid their respects.

“All families have a story,” Phil Larson said, pausing to glance at visitors across the cemetery of more than 43,000. “These families are visiting loved ones who passed away, whether they were shot in combat, or dealing with the strains of combat afterward.”

Hundreds of visitors gathered for an early morning ceremony — complete with music and a vintage biplane flyover.

James Ewald was one of two tuba players in the 108th Army band. Reservist Ewald said he only recently found work after returning from deployment more than a year ago.

“I just returned to a bad market,” Ewald said. The wire manufacturing company where he worked went out of business while he was on active duty. “I tried everything — even as a truck driver, nothing; pizza delivery, nothing.

“I hear it all the time from other veterans, and it’s a real problem,” he added.

Post-9/11 veteran unemployment still hovers around 2 percentage points higher than non-veterans, despite dozens of such efforts since 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Finding adequate support for PTSD or other combat-related injuries seems even harder, with the average VA wait-time for compensation lasting upward of 315 days, according to the Berkeley, Calif.-based Center for Investigative Reporting.