Family members hold up images of deceased loved ones during the ceremony where U.S. President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act in the East Room of the White House on Aug. 10, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday celebrated the number of veterans enrolled in VA health care and benefits as part of a law he signed nearly two years ago, though he said more work must be done for troops who were stationed at a base in Uzbekistan in the early 2000s.

“Two years ago, I signed the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins (PACT) Act enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and health care for toxic exposed veterans and their survivors in over thirty years,” Biden wrote in a statement.

The law, which spent years gaining the support it needed in Congress, expanded health care coverage and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances like Agent Orange and open-air burn pits.

To date, more than 1 million veterans and 10,000 survivors of veterans who died have begun to receive disability benefits stemming from the law, accounting for approximately $6.8 billion in earned benefits.

Biden said in his statement that his administration would continue studying veterans’ other illnesses for a “presumptive status,” which could ensure them access to health care and benefits without having to prove to the VA that their conditions are directly linked to their military service.

The VA is also planning to “close loopholes for certain veterans exposed to harmful toxins during their military service,” Biden wrote, without elaborating.

A White House fact sheet says the VA is looking into providing benefits for 16,000 veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad in Uzbekistan, also known as K2, between 2001 and 2005, since there were “several contaminants…in either the air, water, soil, or soil gas.”

“VA plans to take steps to consider veterans who served in Uzbekistan as Persian Gulf Veterans so that any veteran who served at K2 and who experience undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses can get the benefits they deserve,” it states. “VA will also create new training materials for claims processors and examiners on the hazards identified at K2.”

Since the law — known as the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act or the PACT Act — took effect nearly two years ago, the VA says that 739,421 veterans have enrolled in its health care programs.

Of that total, 333,767 veterans are covered under the new law, including those who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the wars that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.

The numbers released Friday are significantly higher than they were when Biden gave a speech on the law’s one-year anniversary. The VA said at the time, which was one year ago, that 408,581 veterans had filed their claims and that 348,469 of those had been approved.

But Friday’s announcement is somewhat similar to one Biden made in May when he cheered the VA granting 1 million claims under the law.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough said on a call with reporters at the time the law had led to “more than $5.7 billion in earned benefits for veterans.”

The exact number of veterans with approved PACT Act claims as of Friday stood at 1,005,341 while the number of survivors approved had reached 10,777.

A total of 1,251,720 veterans so far have completed filing Pact Act claims as have 21,416 survivors.

The VA has an interactive dashboard that provides veterans with information about how to apply for health care and benefits under the PACT Act as well as how many claims have been submitted.

The VA has a calendar of in-person events that can be found here. Veterans or their family members can also call the VA at 800-698-2411 to inquire about PACT Act benefits.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new research laboratory at the University of Kentucky, May 29, 2024. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

LEXINGTON — U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell spoke about the need to “improve the country’s industrial base” during a ribbon-cutting at the University of Kentucky for a new research laboratory that will work with the U.S. Army.?

McConnell, who graduated from the university’s law school in 1967, spoke on Wednesday about his support for increasing defense spending as Ukraine continues to defend itself from an invasion launched in February 2022 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In recent visits to his home state, the longtime Kentucky senator has emphasized his view that the U.S. should continue to aid Ukraine against Russia, an ally of China, and did so again Wednesday.?

He called the present “a very, very dangerous period” as Russia and China work together against democratic nations.?

“What we need to do is to rebuild our industrial base,” McConnell said, calling the laboratory an example of that. “We sort of took a holiday from history for a while, and our allies in Europe did as well, but we’re awake now.”?

McConnell congratulated the university on the Next Generation Additive Manufacturing Research Laboratory, which is part of UK’s Institute for Sustainable Manufacturing. Researchers in the lab will work to develop products and components for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and civilian use.?

Under a five-year, $50 million collaboration between UK, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, UK’s project will receive about $24.5 million from the DOD.?

S. Jawahir, the director of the institute as well as UK’s principal investigator and project director, said the new space for the lab will allow the university to educate both undergraduate and graduate students for the manufacturing workforce regionally, nationally and internationally.?

UK President Eli Capilouto said in a statement that the university is “deeply thankful for members of our Congress who continue their steadfast support, which ensures we advance Kentucky and fulfill our promise.”?

“As an institution driven by discovery and innovation, we are dedicated to advancing our community and the world,” Capilouto said. “Through this partnership, we can harness our top talents to turn groundbreaking research into real-world solutions — achieving far more collectively than we ever could alone. As Kentucky’s institution, we are stronger and more effective when we collaborate in meaningful ways.”?

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, McConnell did not take questions from the media.?

On Tuesday, McConnell was in Ashland to visit Pathways Journey House, a residential transitional facility for women, as well as speak to the Northeast Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.?

Earlier this year, McConnell announced he planned to step down as Republican leader of the Senate in November. He plans to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January 2027.

A Marine Corps staff sergeant helps conduct the final inspection of recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Jan. 5, 2024. During their last inspection, new Marines are tested on everything they’ve been taught, including uniform standards and discipline. (DOD Photo by?Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ava Alegria)

WASHINGTON — Republican U.S. House lawmakers, led by Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, conducted a hearing Thursday to examine the possibility that “wokeness” hurts U.S. military readiness and effectiveness.

The winding, over two-hour hearing by a subpanel of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability broached topics including, but not limited to, recruitment, benefits for military families, Marxism, Alabama GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s monthslong blockade of military promotions, military desegregation, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and even a relitigation of the end of the Vietnam War.

The hearing did not focus on any specific proposals.

In his opening remarks, Grothman, who chairs the Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs, said the military is “grappling with the Biden Administration’s social experiments of integrating principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion — or ‘DEI’— into their ranks.”

Among his concerns, Grothman highlighted the Pentagon’s roughly $114 million request for the programs in the military’s $884 billion authorized, but not yet funded, budget.

“To be clear, acknowledging the various experiences of our service members may have the potential to enhance our overall strength and resilience as a nation and fighting force,” Grothman continued. “But at the end of the day, our differences must yield to what we have in common. A duty to protect the American freedoms we hold so dear.”

The GOP-led subcommittee’s invited witnesses told the panel that DEI policies and alleged quotas undermine the military’s professionalism, and are the cause of lagging recruit numbers, which are down 39% since a recent peak in 1987, according to the nonprofit USAFacts.

The Pentagon reported the military services collectively missed their recruiting goals by 41,000 in fiscal year 2023.

“I watched DEI trainings divide our troops ideologically and in some cases sow the seeds of animosity toward the very country they had sworn to defend,” said witness Matt Lohmeier, a U.S. Space Force veteran who told lawmakers he was fired from his command for his views on DEI in 2021, the same year he published the book “Irresistible Revolution: Marxism’s Goal of Conquest and the Unmaking of the American Military.”

Democrat objects to DEI arguments

The Pentagon did not provide a response to the criticism, including specific accusations of quotas, when asked Thursday afternoon.

However, the subcommittee’s ranking member Rep. Robert Garcia vehemently opposed many claims voiced in Thursday’s hearing and pushed back on the notion that DEI policies are the culprit behind declining enlistment.

“Data and evidence show sexual assault, mental health care, affordable childcare are all real factors that affect military recruitment, retention and readiness,” Garcia, a California Democrat, said, expressing that he was “dismayed and disappointed” that Thursday’s hearing was a regurgitated version of a subpanel hearing held in March.

“The idea that quote ‘wokeness’ is a top national security threat did not make any sense then and does not make any sense today, and it makes even less sense now given the world that we face,” Garcia continued.

What the surveys say

Military-sponsored and other analyses reveal reasons for apprehension about modern U.S. military service.

Youths ages 16 to 21 reported in 2022 the possibility of injury or death as their top reason not to join the military, according to the Department of Defense’s Joint Advertising, Market Research and Studies latest available annual survey.

Other top reasons included possibility of PTSD or other emotional issues; leaving family and friends; other career interests; and dislike of the military lifestyle.

Among the leading reasons cited by the youth for joining the military were money, college tuition payments, travel, paid health care and the opportunity to learn work skills.

An analysis by the RAND Corporation found that while Americans still overwhelmingly have positive views of veterans, a majority would discourage a young person from enlisting in the ranks.

However the 2023 analysis by one of the leading defense research firms found that 61.2% of American adults would encourage youth to join the Reserve Officers Training Corps, commonly called ROTC, or apply to a service academy.

The analysis also reports that nearly one-quarter of adults believe that most Americans look up to military service members, while only 4% believe the public looks negatively upon them.

‘The armed forces were wrecked’ by 1970

Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule told the panel Thursday that the U.S. military is more effective today because of social change precipitated by Congress over several decades as gender barriers fell and legally protected classes expanded.

Seidule, another witness before the subcommittee, said that though President Harry Truman ordered military desegregation in 1948, changes did not occur until Congress demanded it in the 1970s.

By 1971, “race relations were at its nadir and drug use at its peak. The armed forces were wrecked and unable to defend the nation,” said Seidule, a visiting professor of history at Hamilton College, and professor emeritus of history at West Point.

The Department of Defense created the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute in 1971 to develop standards and training. The institute is funded by Congress each year, and continues to provide education, expanding in recent years to cultural awareness, human relations and harassment prevention, according to the department.

“Over the next twenty years, DoD instituted and internalized a culture of diversity that transformed the military and brought victory in the first Gulf War. The military has been working on diversity for a long time because it works,” Seidule said.

Other changes that followed included permitting women to attend the service academies, and ending “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the President Bill Clinton-era policy that allowed LGBTQ members to serve as long as they kept their sexual orientation hidden. Among other changes Seidule highlighted: ending combat exclusion for women and removing the commemoration of the Confederacy.

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 added requirements for a Pentagon-wide Chief Diversity Officer and Senior Advisors for Diversity and Inclusion for each department.

House Republicans passed a version of the annual defense legislation for fiscal year 2024 that would have eliminated all DEI programs and positions at the Pentagon, but the amendments were struck from the final version.

However, negotiators landed on a hiring freeze and pay grade cap for DEI employees to be included in the NDAA text approved by Congress in December.

The Barnes family (from left) Katherine, Shane, Amelia and Samantha. (Photo provided)

The remains of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, of Hopkinsville — and two other special operations soldiers who died when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed on Nov. 10 — have been recovered from the Mediterranean Sea, U.S. military officials and the Barnes family said.

A team of Navy and Army personnel, along with deep-ocean salvage experts, recovered the downed Blackhawk with the soldiers’ remains, Naval officials said in a press release issued on Thursday.

The remains were flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Barnes’ wife, Samantha Barnes, and his parents, Michael and Kelly Barnes, also of Hopkinsville, traveled this week to Dover to begin the process of planning final arrangements. They were returning to Kentucky on Friday, said Kelly Barnes.

“We are grateful for Army and Navy leadership in their commitment to bring our son, Sammy’s husband, and his Brothers in Service home,” Kelly wrote in a Facebook post. “This journey continues to be incredibly difficult, yet we are surrounded by love and kindness. Shane will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery. The date is pending. Please continue to hold all five families and the 160th SOAR in your prayers.”

Five soldiers, including Barnes, died in the crash during an in-flight training exercise. The crew was conducting an aerial refueling exercise when the helicopter went down. The crash was not the result of hostile fire, according to a Department of Defense report.

All five soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, at Fort Campbell. In addition to Barnes, they were Stephen Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Tanner Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire; Andrew Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona, and Cade Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.

The remains of two soldiers were recovered in the initial rescue efforts immediately after the crash. The military has not officially named the soldiers who were initially found and those who were recovered this week.

“The success of this mission can be attributed to highly trained Sailors, Soldiers, and civilians from the combined Army-Navy team who came together and displayed extreme skill to safely recover the helicopter,” Navy Commander John Kennedy said in the press release. “Everyone onboard was humbled by the opportunity to play a small role in helping to bring closure to grieving families.”

A memorial service for Barnes was conducted Dec. 9 at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Hopkinsville.

This story is republished from Hoptown Chronicle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news outlet committed to covering local issues that are often overlooked or misunderstood and providing fact-based reporting that gives local people information they need to make good decisions about Hopkinsville and Christian County.

Blue Grass Army Depot entrance (Photo by BGAD)

The newly passed national defense act “lays the groundwork for Blue Grass Army Depot to take on new missions,” said U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who called for “ramping up production of defense materials at installations” like the 14,600-acre site in Madison County.

The depot housed the United States’ last stockpile of chemical weapons, the last of which were chemically neutralized and destroyed on July 7. For years Kentuckians battled plans to incinerate chemical weapons in the densely populated area before the Army agreed to use a chemical neutralization process instead.

The defense legislation which Congress approved Thursday includes a requirement that the Army pursue opportunities identified in a feasibility study of potential reuses of the Kentucky facility, says a release from McConnell, the Senate’s Republican leader.?

The chemical-weapons neutralization and destruction plant, roads and related facilities represent a $2 billion investment by taxpayers, says the feasibility study released in September. Among its recommendations is adapting BGAD to produce chemicals critical to the defense industry.

McConnell on Thursday said he also had secured a provision requiring the Department of Defense to “onshore production of crucial chemicals by 2028, addressing a supply-chain vulnerability in 15 chemicals essential for explosive materials and currently produced overseas in countries like China. The provision requires consideration of BGAD’s suitability to meet this vital need.”

Other possible reuses identified in the feasibility study include producing metal shipping containers or 155-mm artillery munitions metal components, expanding BGAD’s security guard training program and collaborating with the Army National Guard on a centralized Army regional security monitoring center.

The study said the depot has the capacity to execute all five of the recommended reuses simultaneously.

It will be late 2027 before the final phase of weapons destruction —? cleanup, processing secondary wastes and completing administrative tasks — is completed, the feasibility study said.

McConnell said other provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that benefit Kentucky are:

• $39 million for a multipurpose training range at Fort Campbell.
• $16.4 million for a modern maintenance facility at Kentucky Army National Guard.
• $3.3 million to plan and design a state-of-the-art munitions supply facility at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
• $2.5 million to plan and design a new air traffic control tower at Fort Campbell.
• $2.0 million to complete construction of a Kentucky National Guard headquarters building in Frankfort
• Study requirement to support the Army Human Resources Command’s 2030 Transformation Plan at Ft. Knox.
• Continued support for the University of Louisville’s cybersecurity workforce development partnership with the National Security Agency.
• Vital investments in Kentucky’s defense manufacturing and innovation industry.

McConnell said the NDAA also authorizes the following provisions to support service members and their families:

• Secures a well-deserved 5.2% pay raise for servicemembers, the highest pay raise in 22 years to offset inflation.
• Provides scholarship opportunities for recruits enrolled in community and junior colleges and increases scholarship opportunities for those pursuing military health careers.
• Authorizes quality improvements for military enlisted barracks, including the replacement of barracks that do not meet basic standards.

The color guard at Hmong Lao Memorial Day, Cadott Veterans Memorial in Cadott, Wisconsin, May 14, 2023. (Photo by Nao Shoua Xiong)

WASHINGTON — Members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation are leading a bipartisan effort to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency recruited the Hmong people as soldiers to help combat communism’s spread through Southeast Asia. The Hmong, who lived and worked as farmers in Laos amid the rise of the communist Pathet Lao, served in intelligence operations, disrupted the Ho Chi Minh Trail — the North Vietnamese supply route — and rescued U.S. pilots in what is known as the “secret war.”

During and after the war, the Hmong faced tremendous casualties. Hmong soldiers “died at a rate ten times as high as that of American soldiers in Vietnam,” according to a press release from the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican.

Yee Leng Xiong, the executive director of the Hmong American Center in Wausau, Wisconsin, said that when he recently spoke with Hmong elders, they told him that they fear that their communities are only respected for past contributions during the Vietnam War.

Xiong said the elders are afraid that once the remaining Hmong veterans die, “the United States would no longer respect the Hmong community.”

“Many of our Hmong veterans actually don’t know if the United States government actually loves them, or recognizes them or will claim them as their own,” Xiong said.

They want to know that “their commitment, their contribution, meant something,” Xiong said.

He said the Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act is a “huge step” in recognizing Hmong veterans. The act, introduced in both the House and Senate, would honor the veterans for their service with the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress.

Calling Wisconsin home

Approximately 319,373 Hmong Americans live in the United States and an estimated 54,200 reside in Wisconsin, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017-2021 American Community Survey. This means that about one-fifth of the nation’s Hmong American population calls Wisconsin home, according to the Census Bureau data.

The 2020 decennial census, unlike the American Community Survey, did not separate the Hmong American population from the Asian American population.

Johnson and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat, are cosponsors of the Senate bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals, which they introduced Nov. 9 alongside Sens. Gary Peters of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

“I’m happy to lead with Senator Peters to ensure the Hmong people get the recognition they deserve for their dedication to the fight against communism,” Johnson said in a press release. “Wisconsin is proud to be home to so many brave individuals who are dedicated to liberty and freedom and opposed to government tyranny.”

Baldwin said that “we owe” the Hmong veterans for their “service and sacrifice.”

“Wisconsin has a special bond with the Hmong people, and I am proud to honor and recognize their courageous service to our country,” Baldwin said in a statement.

Baldwin has also introduced bipartisan legislation that would recognize Southeast Asian Diasporas’ contributions during the Vietnam War. This includes Hmong communities.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Wisconsin Republican, re-introduced the House bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals in March after sponsoring its previous version last year. Wisconsin’s U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, Tom Tiffany, Bryan Steil, Scott Fitzgerald, Derrick Van Orden and Mark Pocan are among the 49 listed cosponsors.

“The Hmong people fearlessly served in the fight against communism, and they deserve to be recognized for their honorable service,” Tiffany said in a statement. “We are lucky to call many of them neighbors in Wisconsin today, and the Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act ensures their service and sacrifice is not forgotten.”

Remembering Hmong sacrifices

After the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam in 1973, the Hmong were targeted by the communist regimes of North Vietnam and Laos.

According to the Hmong American Center website, the Hmong “were hunted down, taken to concentration camps, put into hard labor and persecuted. Their villages were sprayed with chemical weapons and bombed with napalm.”

More than 10% — or about 35,000 — of the Hmong population in Laos died, according to the Hmong American Center website.

Forced to flee their homeland, the Hmong took refuge in Thailand before many eventually moved to other nations, including the U.S., according to the Hmong American Center. Today, most Hmong Americans can be found in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Michigan.

Xiong of the Hmong American Center said that as of March of this year, there were fewer than 280 Hmong veterans left in Wisconsin, but there have been many veteran deaths since then.

The dwindling number of surviving Hmong veterans, who served about 50 years ago, creates a greater sense of urgency for recognition, Xiong said. He said members of Wisconsin’s Hmong communities are “extremely terrified” that within the next five to 10 years, there will not be any surviving veterans left.

“We want to make sure that they know that they are loved, that they’re respected, and recognized for their contributions,” Xiong said.

Hmong contributions to Wisconsin economy

Xiong said it is important to recognize the ways in which Wisconsin’s Hmong population has economically benefited the state.

In Marathon County — where Wausau is located — many Hmong farm ginseng, an herbal root. Marathon County grows the most ginseng in Wisconsin, Xiong said. Wisconsin is also the largest ginseng producer in the U.S.

The Hmong community in Wausau has also contributed to the growth of local businesses, such as Great Lakes Cheese Company and Marathon Cheese Corporation, Xiong said.

Wausau has one of the largest Hmong American populations in Wisconsin, alongside Milwaukee, La Crosse, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Madison, Eau Claire and others, according to the Hmong American Center.

Wisconsin’s Hmong communities have paid millions of dollars in payroll taxes, Xiong said. Xiong referenced to a report from Marquette University in Milwaukee and said that the Hmong median income surpassed the statewide average household median income.

This is a “true testament of the Hmong community’s tenacity to continue to do better,” Xiong said.

“That shows that the Hmong community, despite the fact that they’ve only been here for 45 years — which is not very long — they were able to continue working on themselves and continue to become contributors to the states here,” Xiong said.

Xiong said that Hmong communities still face many challenges, including fears of lost language and culture.

“The most important component that many of our elders and our veterans are afraid of, is basically loss of language, culture, and also their own history,” Xiong said.

He said the Hmong elders worry that younger generations will not remember the efforts and sacrifices of their veterans.

A need for mental health resources

Many of the Hmong people today also experience generational trauma, Xiong said, and there is a need for greater access to mental health resources.

Xiong said Hmong veterans continue to struggle with mental health issues such as PTSD, but there is a lack of mental health care services available that have the cultural prioritization they need.

Rep. Francesca Hong, who was the first Asian American elected to the Wisconsin Legislature, also said that it is important for Hmong communities to have greater access to “culturally responsive” and appropriate mental health resources.

It is necessary to ensure “that Hmong elders — including our Hmong veterans — don’t feel isolated,” Hong said, and that “they have access to farming, and practices and cultures that remind them, and make them feel as though they can make Wisconsin more their home.”

“I think having more community programs that bring together Hmong elders and Hmong youth, specifically queer youth, to kind of broaden how we can better make inclusive communities, I think that’s really important,” Hong said.

Hong said there must be greater efforts to ensure Wisconsin’s Hmong organizations are properly funded, “because it’s the community that knows best how to serve their communities.”

Hong calls for more action in Congress

Hong said that while the Congressional Gold Medal is a “tremendous honor” for Hmong veterans, veterans have other concerns that must be addressed.

“I think the elder (Hmong) populations that I speak with in Wisconsin, when I speak to their communities, there’s a lot of concern around mental health resources, easier access to getting veteran status on driver’s licenses, and feeling as though that they are more in the community,” Hong said.

Hong said that when members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation challenge diversity, equity and inclusion programs, as well as measures to tackle anti-Asian hate, “that impacts our Hmong communities directly.”

While Hong did not mention any specific examples of Wisconsin members of Congress challenging measures to combat anti-Asian hate, Tiffany was the only U.S. representative from Wisconsin to vote against the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act in 2021. The law aimed to address the rise in violence against Asian Americans during the pandemic.

Hong said it is important for Wisconsin’s elected officials to recognize “that our communities deserve to be in places where diversity is celebrated and not weaponized.”

“I think there is a lot more they can do to be champions of diversity, and recognizing that we should be radically welcoming of our Hmong communities regardless of veteran status or not,” Hong said.

Shane and Samantha Barnes with their daughters, Amelia, second from right, and Katherine. (Photo provided)

HOPKINSVILLE — More than 6,000 miles from home, U.S. Army helicopter pilot Shane Barnes texted with his wife, Samantha, about her weekend plans in Hopkinsville with their girls, Amelia, who is 5, and Katherine, who will be 2 in a few months.

It was Friday, Nov. 10, the day before Veterans Day. Samantha told Shane that his parents, Michael and Kelly Barnes, wanted to help her pull out decorations so they could get the house ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They had been to Amelia’s school, University Heights Academy, earlier that day for a ceremony honoring veterans. Hundreds of current and former service members, including Shane and Samantha, were featured in photographs that lined the school’s hallways. Samantha had also been in the Army and flew helicopters before leaving the service as her family grew.

Samantha sent Shane photos from the school. She told him a teacher wanted both of them to come speak at the program in 2024. He responded with a smiley face in sunglasses.

In a flurry of messages between the Middle East and Kentucky, Shane told Samantha she ought to go find a restaurant that would treat her to a meal on Veterans Day.

“Make sure you get thanked for your service,” he texted.

Tragic news

The next day, Samantha and the girls joined Shane’s parents for a late lunch at Camo Caravan, a veteran-owned restaurant in Hopkinsville that was serving free cheeseburger sliders and fries to veterans and active-duty military.

Shane hadn’t been responding to text messages since the previous night. Samantha thought his unit with the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment had temporarily lost cell service — or maybe he was too busy to respond.

As she sat in the restaurant with her daughters and in-laws, Samantha received a phone alert from the Ring doorbell at home a few miles northwest of town.

She looked at the live video and saw berets.

Two men in Army uniforms stood outside her front door.

She turned the phone toward her father-in-law.

As fear spread from Samantha to Michael to Kelly, she stepped outside the restaurant to use the audio feed connecting her phone to the doorbell camera. The men asked her to come home immediately.

At the house, Michael took the children inside and waited while Samantha and Kelly received the news.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, 34, died Friday, Nov. 10, during an in-flight training exercise over the Mediterranean Sea. He was among five Fort Campbell soldiers who were killed.

“The MH-60 Blackhawk was conducting aerial refueling training when the aircraft experienced an in-flight emergency, resulting in the crash,” the Department of Defense would announce days later. Military officials said there was no indication of hostile activity.

When they told Michael that his son’s body was not recovered, he wondered if Shane was still out there. Maybe he was in his life preserver, adrift at sea. Was he possibly alive, waiting to be rescued?

He was not, said the Army officials who went to Shane’s house to notify the family.

An early calling

Shane grew up in Sacramento, California.

Early on, he showed an interest in military service. He wore a flight suit from his paternal grandfather, who served in the Air Force, for Halloween in the fourth grade.

By the time he was in high school, Shane was one of the biggest kids on the football team at Jesuit High School. His brother and best friend Josh, two years younger, also attended Jesuit. Their mom worked for the school, helping direct campus ministries. Their father was a correctional officer.

Shane graduated from high school in 2007 and went to Gonzaga University on an ROTC scholarship. He turned down an opportunity to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in favor of a more traditional college experience. He majored in English but his focus was on military studies. As it became more evident he was headed for a career in the service, his mother worked through her fears.

“I realized that we need men and women of character, integrity and faith in those leadership positions,” she said. “And if God was calling Shane to that life … I wouldn’t stand in the way.”

Kelly also never forgot her son’s generous nature, a trait she saw when he was very young.

She recalled a day when she was driving in Sacramento with the windows down. Shane was about 4 years old. They came to stop beside a man on the street holding a sign. Shane asked his mom, what did the sign say? She told him the man was homeless and wanted help.

Suddenly, Shane tried to get the man’s attention through the open window. He wanted to talk to him. Kelly was worried for their safety and drove away quickly. She turned and asked Shane what he was trying to tell the man.

“We have an extra room at our house. He could live with us,” Shane said.

In the days after they learned Shane wasn’t coming home from his last deployment, his parents and his wife told stories about Shane to people who had never known him. It felt important to them to make others aware of how he lived and what he valued.

His priorities for his career and his daughters had everything to do with four generations of his family coming to live in Hopkinsville, Kentucky — a place none of them had known a decade earlier.

Getting started

Shane Barnes lifts his wife, Samantha, in an embrace on her return to Fort Campbell from an overseas deployment. (Photo provided)

After graduating from Gonzaga in 2011, Shane began training to be an Army aviator at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

That summer he had his first date with another ROTC graduate learning to fly helicopters. Samantha had graduated from the University of Portland in Oregon, where she majored in philosophy.

Before he asked Samantha out, Shane called his brother for advice. Where should he take her? Give her choices, said Josh.

It was around the Fourth of July in Enterprise, Alabama, and Shane asked Samantha if she’d like to go out to eat at a fancy restaurant. Or would she rather do something fun?

Fun sounded better, she said. So he took her to play miniature golf and then picked up a sack of burgers and headed to a drive-in movie in his truck. Samantha said it was a Disney double feature, probably “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Cars 2.” She laughs now and says she is a little fuzzy on what they watched.

When they finished flight school, Shane was stationed at South Korea. She went to Fort Lewis, Washington. But Shane saw his future with Samantha.

Establishing roots

In December 2012, Shane was on leave for the holidays and back in the United States. He took Samantha with him to Sacramento and proposed to her in front of the Christmas tree at his family’s home.

It would be another year before they could be married at a church in her hometown in Oregon.

But wanting to seal their marriage ahead of the ceremony, they found the only state that allows for a double-proxy marriage. On Jan. 22, 2013, the state of Montana declared them officially married while she was on the West Coast and he was overseas.

By August of 2013, they were both stationed at South Korea. It would take more than two years to get back to the U.S.

In February of 2016, they were sent to Fort Campbell and picked a home in Clarksville, Tennessee. Soon after they arrived, she was deployed to Iraq for nine months and missed his graduation from “Green Platoon,” a training program for any soldier seeking to enter the 160th SOAR.

Members of the 160th are known as the Night Stalkers because the aviation regiment was formed to carry out stealth operations, sometimes in the cover of darkness. Shane saw his work with the 160th as protecting people he loves from evil.

The 160th grew out of a failed attempt in April 1980 to rescue American hostages held in Tehran, Iran. U.S. officials decided to train an elite group of helicopter pilots and crew members to carry out a second attempt. Although Iran released the hostages on the day President Ronald Reagan took office, the new unit that would eventually become the 160th was taking shape. Its first combat mission was during the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, six years before Shane was born.

Shane and Samantha’s first daughter, Amelia, was born in February 2018. They call her Millie. Katherine was born four years later. She goes by Katie.

A new hometown

In between the two births, the family moved to Hopkinsville. They bought a home just outside the city limits from a member of Shane’s unit who was leaving for another assignment.

“Shane called dibs on the house,” Samantha said. They had visited the place for parties and loved the rural setting. It had a pool and a pool house. Shane thrived with room to smoke meat and cook homemade pizzas every Friday night.

And he took more steps to make Kentucky their permanent home. He gave up his commission as a captain and became a chief warrant officer, ensuring that he would be able to remain in the 160th. Had he not done that, he would have earned promotions and been forced to take on new assignments, his family said.

He never wanted to “ride a desk,” said Michael.

Next, Shane and Samantha worked on getting his parents to relocate. During visits, Samantha would seemingly take them down random county roads to have a look around. In fact, she was hoping to get them interested in a new home.

When they did decide to move, it took more than they might have expected — selling an RV, giving household goods away, packing up his parents, too, to join them. And Kelly needed to retire from a job she loved but one that had changed during the pandemic.

In August 2021, they moved into a home near Shane and Samantha. Suddenly, there were four generations of Barneses in Kentucky.

Shane had already taken to life in his new hometown when his parents arrived. He was always up for a community event — Summer Salute in Hopkinsville, the Ham Festival in Cadiz, a distillery on the weekend. His favorite restaurant was The Local Irish Pub in downtown Hopkinsville. He said they knew how to do a “proper Guinness pour.”

Kelly said she felt “embraced immediately” by the community. She got involved with the Newcomers and Neighbors club. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church became their new church.

There were adjustments, though. They were not used to a slower pace, where a grocery store clerk might carry on a casual conversation with customers while slowly slicing a special order at the deli counter. Michael jokes that Sacramento had one and a half seasons all year while Hopkinsville has “six seasons in a few minutes.” And not many outsiders are prepared for Western Kentucky’s humidity in August.

But because of Shane and the decisions he made about his career, his family has a place that feels like home even though he will no longer be with them.

“Because we were invited and because we said, ‘yes,’ we have more than two years of memories with Shane and his girls that we otherwise wouldn’t have had,” said Kelly.

Samantha can’t know what the future holds long-term. But for now, she says she cannot imagine living anywhere else.

Shane gave her the kind of place where a person feels comfortable hanging their photos on all the walls because they know they are staying.

“He made that possible,” she said.

When military officials announced the deaths of the five Fort Campbell soldiers, they listed Shane as being from Sacramento. Kelly says her son would want people to know that he was from Hopkinsville.

Memorial service

The memorial service for Shane Barnes will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. His brother Josh will give the eulogy. The service is open to the community, his family said. There will be another service later when a headstone for Shane is placed at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

The family has suggested these organizations for anyone wanting to make a memorial gift:

• Big Sky Bravery: It provides post-deployment decompression programs for active duty special operations forces. www.bigskybravery.org

• St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital: Its mission is lifesaving work to find cures and means of prevention for childhood cancer and other pediatric, life-threatening diseases, as well as providing treatment and housing for families served. www.stjude.org

• Jesuit High School: A Sacramento Catholic high school that provides young men with a life-building experience and delivers an academically rigorous college preparatory education to prepare graduates for lives of leadership and service.? 2023 Hoptown Chronicle | All rights reserved

This story is republished from the Hoptown Chronicle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news outlet committed to covering local issues that are often overlooked or misunderstood and providing fact-based reporting that gives local people information they need to make good decisions about Hopkinsville and Christian County.