Veterans

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to tackle the high unemployment rate among Maryland veterans, his office said Tuesday. By the end of 2015, O'Malley aims to reduce veteran unemployment from 5.3 percent to below 3 percent, which economists would consider full employment, the administration said. "The military provides our service members with some of the best possible skills and leadership training," O'Malley said in statement. "We want to make sure Maryland's veterans who possess those skills become a part of our workforce.

The Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training's Baltimore complex is full of neatly made beds and shining-clean floors, a military-like environment for homeless former service members working to get their lives back on track. Its executive director, a retired Navy lieutenant, would love to expand the nonprofit so he can take in families — children as well as their veteran parent. But as David T. Clements works to pin down new funding for that effort, he's worried about the money he's already got. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently warned the center to expect a cut in grant funding of more than 3.5 percent, which Clements said would hit late next year.

Speaking as a veteran who served for eight years as a Naval Reserve Officer, five in World War II and three more during the Korean Conflict, it was with tears in my eyes that I read The Sun's article, "VA falls short on helping veterans," (Jan. 27) as I sadly realized that I could have just as easily been a member of this group. In order to lend a helping hand to this national endeavor, a couple of years ago I signed up with the Wounded Warriors Project whose headquarters is located in Topeka, Kansas in order to make a monthly contribution to this worthy cause.

Moving to Maryland has been a learning experience for Chad Barnhill, general manager of the Horseshoe Baltimore Casino that will fill the sweeping vacant lot currently greeting drivers coming into the city on Russell Street. At home within the walls of a casino - he's worked for Caesars Entertainment since graduating from college in 1994 - this is the first time he's overseen the building of a new facility. When he's not meeting with city officials regarding building permits, he's addressing neighborhood associations concerned about what plopping a casino near their houses might mean.

Your recent article neglected to mention that the billions in budget cuts proposed by "sequestration" threaten to raise health care premiums and cuts benefit cuts for veterans ("Federal contractor? Brace yourself," Sept. 29). Young veterans recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan would be hit hardest - they depend on health care, as 50 percent have claimed some kind of disability and nearly 30 percent are unemployed, making them less able to pay higher health care costs. Instead of raiding veterans' programs and benefits, leaders in Washington need to find money elsewhere.

Ask children what Memorial Day means to them and they'll frequently say: "That's the day that the pools open. " Yet no other observance in America is more somber: It is the day we remember our war dead, pay homage to their sacrifice and courage, and recall the selflessness that embodies military service. Memorial Day also honors the families of the fallen: the mother who hears her child's 21-gun salute; the husband or wife who receives a folded flag; the young son or daughter who knows mom or dad only from a photograph.

This July 4th finds us with servicemen and women celebrating Independence Day in other countries, carrying with them the creed that all men and women are created equal and endowed with the inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Recently, President Barack Obama announced a drawback of our troops in Afghanistan. Some of those troops will continue with their military careers, while others will transition to civilian life as veterans. I urge Marylanders to be proactive in welcoming home newly-returned veterans and to participate in helping them to transition and readjust to civilian life.

Albert Raim, my father, grew up on Lombard Street. By the end of World War II he had trained the crews who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan in how to fly their B-29s by instruments. Martin Klein, my father-in-law, grew up on Smallwood Street. He was one of the few unwounded soldiers in the first wave to make it to Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944 — D-Day. I still find it amazing that these otherwise ordinary men had such a direct impact on two of the most monumental events in world history.

A free career expo will be held Thursday in Linthicum for veterans and transitioning servicemen and servicewomen. The job fair, hosted by Military.com and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton, 1001 Scott Drive. Defense contractors and local businesses looking to hire former military personnel will be present, according to the hosts. For more information, go to military.com/career-expo. ywenger@baltsun.com

The General Assembly has voted unanimously to create a "veteran" status on Maryland driver's licenses. The move was recommended last year by the state Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board, which was chaired by Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, who is a colonel in the Army Reserve. Brown called it "a simple way to help us connect veterans to numerous state programs and initiatives by better identifying those who are eligible. "It will also make it easier for veterans to identify themselves when accessing the various benefits, discounts and services they have earned," he said in a statement.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appointed an executive with a disaster response company Friday to lead Baltimore's Transportation Department at a time when the agency continues to struggle with its speed camera program. Her pick, William Johnson, has worked since 2005 as a senior manager at O'Brien's Response Management, which billed itself as a provider of emergency preparedness, response management and crisis services when it merged last year with another firm. Johnson has 20 years of public- and private-sector experience in urban transportation, public works, and emergency preparation and response, the mayor's office said.

On Monday night, Eric DeCosta was in our house for once. The Ravens assistant general manager visited our offices down on Calvert Street to speak and answer reader questions in our latest Baltimore Sun Sports Forum. Among the highlights was DeCosta acknowledging that the team's “hunt goes on” for a veteran wide receiver . "We're still working. The roster is not set. We're always evaluating. We're always looking at guys,” DeCosta said. “Our pro personnel department looks at all available players and we'll make a decision at some point of what we want to do at that position.

A Baltimore Circuit Court judge ruled that a jury will be able to hear the taped confession of a teenage defendant in a murder case, rejecting his lawyers' claim that the police had coerced the statement from him. Markell Shelton Jones and his mother, Lakisha Jones, testified Monday that they had been influenced by police, an argument Robert Linthicum, Jones' attorney, made again Tuesday. "The whole thing basically reeks of coercion," he said. But Judge M. Brooke Murdock said police had done nothing improper in the way they conducted the interviews and said she did not find the defendant's mother credible.

When Orioles right-hander Freddy Garcia was left without a job just a week before the regular season began this year, there was no doubt in his mind that he would pitch in the major leagues in 2013 if he was given the chance. Garcia - a 15-year major league veteran who won the World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and is the winningest Venezuelan-born pitcher in baseball history (152 career wins) - didn't need to prove anything after the San Diego Padres released him in late March.

The first troops showed up on a Saturday morning at the four-bedroom house in Columbia heavily armed: saws, hammers, crowbars, drills. They've returned three times since and are expected back again next week in hopes of making repairs upstairs and down, inside and out. The noise these volunteers made was ... well, homeowner Ryan Condillac first called it "manageable. " Then he thought a moment and said, "I want to use another adjective: awesome. " The hammering, sanding and whining of electric saws was, in the end, the sound of charitable effort.

Six military veterans from Maryland pleaded guilty to fraud charges this week in a scheme to obtain federal military benefits and state tax breaks with faked documentation claiming they were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office. The veterans allegedly paid thousands of dollars in cash to David Clark, the former deputy chief of veterans claims in the state Department of Veterans Affairs Office, in exchange for $1.4 million in fraudulent benefits and tax breaks, prosecutors said.

Elizabeth Klingaman, formerly of Catonsville, earned a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Maryland in May. She achieved a 3.9 grade point average. Klingaman completed a one-year internship at the Denver Veterans Administration Medical Center, where she provided assessment, intervention and consultation to veterans and their families. . An alumna of South Carroll High School, where she was co-valedictorian, she graduated magna cum laude from Mary Washington College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in historic preservation and psychology.

Besides giving several injured players a chance to heal and recover, the bye week also provides some of the Ravens' younger players with an opportunity to get more involved in the game plan and get more reps in practice. Coach John Harbaugh confirmed that Wednesday's session was a chance to mix the younger players with the veterans. “Everybody is getting work in,” he said. “Everybody is healthy enough. There are a few guys we held out. It's just better for them not to be out here pounding - not that many.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia will fill the Orioles' empty starting rotation spot Saturday against the Los Angeles Angels, manager Buck Showalter said Thursday. The 36-year-old Garcia, who is 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Norfolk, was scheduled to start on Saturday for the Tides, which Showalter said is one of the main reasons he's been selected to make the spot start. "His date fits well timing-wise," Showalter said. "That's what you look at first.

Franklin W. Littleton Jr., a retired career Air Force officer and a businessman who was a big-band and Dixieland music aficionado, died April 20 of complications from dementia at Nichols Eldercare, an Edgewood assisted-living facility. The Bel Air resident was 91. The son of a contractor and a homemaker, Franklin Walter Littleton Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on Clearspring Road in Forest Park. He was a 1939 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and studied law at the University of Baltimore at night while working at Montgomery Ward and the Glenn L. Martin Co. in Middle River.