US Marines Build Residential Fence for Fellow Soldier

[caption id="attachment_835" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo: Chuck Beckley/The Daily News[/caption]

Too often we hear stories of our veterans feeling unappreciated and forgotten, but here's a case (story by Amanda Wilcox of Jacksonville Daily News) where a disabled US soldier in need received help from fellow marines.

Johnny McCallon had served his country for 16 years and suffered a traumatic brain injury after an improvised explosive device blew him out of a second story window during a tour of duty in Iraq. He later developed post traumatic stress disorder in addition to back and leg injuries he sustained during the blast. As a result, he was medically discharged from the Marine Corps in 2007.

The PTSD was consuming and he slowly lost hope in humanity, finding solace only in his canine companions, of which he had eight packed into a small home in Hubert, North Carolina.

“With Johnny’s PTSD he identifies better with dogs then he does with people,” said Johnny’s fiancée Sandy Tonkens.

McCallon walks with a cane and his injuries make it hard to properly walk each of the dogs, so he lets them run around in their yard. But the yard isn’t fenced, and the dogs often run off the property into other people’s yards and even in the street.

The couple decided it was time they build a fence around their yard to give their dogs a secure place to run, but when they found out building the fence around their large property would cost $22,000, they were crushed.

Sandy Tonkins started knocking on doors and asking for donations and was eventually recommended to contact the Semper Fi Fund, who, to Tonkens’ surprise, provided money toward the fence and organized a volunteer project with the United Way of Onslow County and 2nd Marine Division to build a fence around McCallon’s Hubert home.

A total of 90 Marines from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment visited the land over a three-day period to build the fence.

Craig Wagner, president of United Way of Onslow County, helped organize the event with the Semper Fi Fund, providing volunteers and collaborating with local businesses like C&S Bushhogging who cleared the land for free and Home Depot who provided employees at no cost to help use some of the tools needed to build the fence.

“Our service members have sacrificed so much for our country and when we can do something like this it’s really not even a fair tradeoff,” Wagner said.

“It’s a fence,” Tonkens said. “But the meaning behind the fence is priceless. They gave him new life.”

Contact Jacksonville Daily News Military Reporter Amanda Wilcox at amanda.wilcox@jdnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AWilcox21.

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Academy's Best Friends: Yard Dogs' Honorarium

[caption id="attachment_726" align="alignright" width="300"] Okay we're a little remiss on portraits, but here's Sereno, wagging his tail.[/caption]

Out here on Day Street in Orange, NJ we've always kept a yard dog or two around, and believe me, they are loved. So we wanted to offer a little honorarium and introduction to our readers who may have known them over the years as well as to those that missed out.

Weather permitting, they'd have the run of the fenced in yard by night and be in and out of the shop by day.

The list of Academy’s best friends - the few, the strong - must include:

Bell - There at the beginning, our snappy, snippy little, ultra-fierce queen bitch was fiercely loyal to her principles, but mostly to Louis R. Those who met her still speak of the thickness of the chain she bore during the day in the metal shop… and how even that left them feeling insecure when her rules were tested.

Tuffy - Good old friendly, fun, alert and protective Tuffy was a dark wolfish shepherd, and everyone’s buddy. He started at his life at the family household where he bonded with the Cavallo family on South Valley Road in ‘The Valley’ of Orange, NJ.  He was afraid only of Uncle Dominick which was attributed by Dominick to the fact that at one point he had taken him to the veterinarian. But he sure ran for cover whenever he saw Uncle Dominick coming. When Tuffy was full grown he inherited his true domain, the Tuff Fence (the name under which Academy Fence Company originated) facility on Day Street in Orange NJ. He acclimated quickly and served in harmony with Bell.  Mutual Respect? Who knows, because Bell didn’t take to many.

Ruffy - An accepted johnny-come-lately bruiser with an enormous head with a thick body and wide stance, Ruffy was cool headed and well behaved, but looked like you wouldn't want to rile him up. He had a low-pitched bark and might be considered a baritone, if they had dog choirs. He was a subdued character and was rarely riled.

Tuffy Two - At least half sheppard, and probably up to half great dane, Tuffy Two was also lovingly raised at the family household. Tuffy Two was grudgingly (by some family members) released from full time home, part-of-the-household family dog to operate a post at the Academy Fence Headquarters on Day Street in Orange, NJ. To exactly which family member or members Tuffy Two was attached was a much disputed controversy.
With his flawless attitude, all dogs - and even some riley wolfs - would benefit from knowing Tuffy Two. Quintessential. Classic. Tuffy Two defined the reason dogs are our best friends.

Loop Cap - Loop Cap was a small, loveable shepherd and everybody knew she was Dino's buddy.

[caption id="attachment_727" align="alignright" width="300"] Sereno Modeling a Chain Link Dog Run[/caption]

Sereno -  Sereno's name came from the Italian word for serene, meaning clear, serene, calm, cloudless, sheltered. He was acquired when one of us asked a man walking a dog if he had another one like him (ie: from the same litter). As it turned out, the man said he was walking him for the pound, and we could probably follow him back and take him. We did. He was predominantly shepherd, but his squarish head revealed some rottweiler genes.  Super cool dog.

Let us know if you have any cool memories of the Academy Dogs over the years.

Watch Welded Wire Fence Being Manufactured

Check out this awesome video of Oklahoma Steel's Fencing Materials Plant complete with ripping bluegrass sound track! We love robots! Thanks to Louis E. Page for posting on their great blog.

Nice Day for a Drive in the Pool?

Today from WFTV News  in South Florida:

A south Florida driver, who said she swerved to avoid an accident, crashed through a fence and almost ended up in a family's pool.

The homeowner's son, Alex Ferrer, saw what happened and rushed over to help.

"Got her around to the passenger side, and yeah, we just calmed her down, sat her in a chair, gave her some water. She was fine. She just had some chest pains," Ferrer said.

A crane was brought in to hoist the SUV out of the family's backyard.

The woman was not injured.