NH Soldiers Return Home On New Year's Day

MANCHESTER, NH - They were gone a long time.

"It' been almost 11 months," Trisha Ewalt said. 

Ashley Lavoie has been waiting "over 300 days."

But Friday afternoon, for dozens of New Hampshire families, the weight of all those weeks and months was lifted when their deployed family members returned home.

Denise Crane, a soldier's spouse, said, "Dealing with two that are two and under it was definitely a lot. So we're excited to have Daddy back."

Women WWII Pilots Denied Final Rest at Arlington National Cemetery

More than 1,000 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) served during World War II, flying more than 60 million miles in every type of military aircraft. (US Air Force)

McLEAN, Va. -- The ashes of World War II veteran Elaine Harmon are sitting in a closet in her daughter's home, where they will remain until they can go to what her family says is her rightful resting place: Arlington National Cemetery.

Harmon piloted aircraft in World War II under a special program, Women Airforce Service Pilots, that flew noncombat missions to free up male pilots for combat. Granted veteran status in 1977, the WASPs have been eligible to have their ashes placed at Arlington with military honors since 2002.
But earlier this year, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh reversed course and ruled WASPs ineligible.

Plymouth Couple Marries Before Wife's US Navy Deployment

KINGSTON, Mass. (WHDH) - Dakota Neary Rose was struggling to find time to get married before she was deployed on a military mission.

But, Kingston Town Clerk Paul Gallagher made sure Rose married her fiance before she departed.
Rose, a sailor in the Navy, was set to deploy to San Diego and had only nine days with her fiance.
Rose's mother, a Kingston native, asked Gallagher for guidance on how to get the Plymouth couple married before her daughter deployed. 

Marine Family Helped Get Compensation for Iran Hostages

Marine Cpl. Joel Livingston (center) aboard the USS Nassau in 1982. His widow played a major role in getting compensation for former Iran hostages.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Annette Livingston.)

After 36 years, the former hostages held in Iran are finally going to get financial compensation, and the lion’s share of the credit may go to the widow of a Marine and her brother, a Marine security guard who was held by the Iranians.

“A Marine family single-handedly did this,” said Steven Perles, an attorney who helped write the legislation passed by Congress in the latest budget deal that provides money to the former hostages.
Perles had represented Annette Livingston for years. Her husband, Marine Cpl. Joel Livingston, was killed in the Oct. 23, 1983, terrorist attack on the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. She urged Perles to represent her brother, former Marine Sgt. Paul Lewis, he said.

Navy PFA Award, Fitness Trackers Pilot in the Works

The idea of an award for PT studs has popped up and fallen by the wayside over the past decade, but following an announcement by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in May, it appears that the dream might become a reality in 2016.

Dubbed the Outstanding Fitness Award, the honor would go to sailors who earn three outstanding grades in a row on their PRT.

Leadership has not decided whether it will be a ribbon or a medal, but it will be authorized for uniforms.

Things Every Sailor Needs to Know for 2016

The Navy plans to deliver on many long-awaited changes, from new fitness suits to deploying a carrier powered by bio-fuels. Here, Damage Controlman Fireman Austin Hunter mans the rails during a Nov. 23 homecoming aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt.(Photo: MC3 Stephane Belcher/Navy)

The year 2016 is set for heady news events and long-awaited changes, ranging from patrols of contested waters and better armed littoral combat ships to a new physical fitness regime and the introduction of highly anticipated uniforms.

Women will begin preparing to join the storied SEAL teams. The fleet will grow with 11 new ships. A strike group will sail to promote bio-fuels.

Also look for changes to Tricare and the roll-out of the new retirement system that takes effect in 2018.

What you need to know:

Happy New Year

Every New Year, we dream of a better world for us and ours. This Year let us take up the onus to make the world a better place for you, me and everyone else.

No Year can be a bed of roses. But I wish you courage and confidence to turn each obstacle into opportunity this year and beyond.

May You succeed in the year 2016 and achieve all the goals.

Cheers to the best year yet!