For older news headlines, please search the archive.
The plan had consisted of a fundraiser to raise money for an operation at the Mayo Clinic on behalf of veteran Greg Crane, but things changed. When VFW Post 280 members in Columbia, Missouri, heard that their fellow member had died on the operating table, they contacted his family to ask if they wanted to continue with the fundraiser. Through adver...
The three oldest children of Malcolm Loepke well remember Aug. 17, 1969. Chris, the oldest who was 13 at the time, remembers the knock on the door of his family’s Elwood, Ind., apartment. Dawn, who was then 11, remembers pulling into the parking lot with her mom, Diane, and her younger brother, Don. Dawn recalled her mother letting out a gas...
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD as it is commonly called, is a mental health problem you may develop after experiencing traumatic events. The condition was first recognized in war veterans. It has had different names in the past, such as “shell shock”, but it is not only diagnosed in solders. A wide range of traumatic experience...
Debra Lewis vividly recalls the extra dessert placed at her table in the cavernous mess hall during her first week at West Point in 1976. She was among the first group of women allowed to enter the military academy that year but quickly realized that not all were so welcoming. In that medieval-like dining hall, hazing was all too common, said Lewis...
Stacy Whitmore, 54, served in the Air Force for four years and the Army National Guard for 18. Her reasons for enlisting were many. “I joined because my dad was in the Army. I was a military brat. Because of that, after high school, I wanted to make a difference,” she said. “As an adult, I wanted to travel and show my husband and ...
Living in his mother’s home in 2001, Fernando Smith Jr. was ready to make a change. “All my friends were growing up, while I was living a sheltered lifestyle,” he explained. “I wanted to learn to be an adult, too.” Smith realized the military could help him achieve his goals. For four years, he was stationed at Mountai...
Veteran Jonathan Rice, 26, was born in Kolkata, India. As a dual citizen and the son of missionary parents, he grew up in both the United States and India. When he came of age, Rice decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, following a family tradition of service. For just over a year, Rice served at Cherry Point, North Carolina, where he sustained a ...
Statement of Tammy Barlet, Associate Director National Legislative Service Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States For the Record United States House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health With Respect To “Pending Legislation” Washington, D.C. Chairwoman Brownley, Ranking Member Berg...
Each workday, Joe Riener, 55, commutes 54 miles roundtrip from his home in Cottonwood, Idaho, with his wife Angie, to the North Central Idaho Office of Veterans Advocacy in nearby Lewiston. “The drive isn’t bad,” he said. “It gives my mind the time to spin up for the day and wind down at the end of it.” As a VFW-accred...
Statement of Emily Devito, Associate Director National Legislative Service Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States For The Record United States House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity With Respect To “Pending Legislation” Washington, D.C. Chairman Levin, Ranking M...
t
o
p