News

Not all our casualties of war served overseas in combat. Some are children who never left our shores. Collateral damage, some might call it. Our Cover Story from Martha Teichner: 

How many of these homecomings have you seen on television since we went to war in Iraq and Afghanistan more than a decade ago? How many children, looking into a returning soldier's eyes for the parent who went away?

These are supposed to be happy endings, happily-ever-after moments. But often they are anything but.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    
February 20, 2014

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced  the phased roll out of newly designed, more secure Veteran Health Identification Cards. The new cards are distinguished by additional security features and will have a different look and feel. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

January 27, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a consumer advisory to help consumers protect themselves in the wake of the recent breaches of payment card and other data. The advisory also contains information on where to get help if consumers suspect their information has been compromised.

Some troubled Los Angeles veterans are getting help through an unlikely source: orphaned parrots.

The West L.A. campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs has an exotic-bird rescue facility on its sprawling 387-acre campus. It houses 21 aviaries with nearly 40 parrots that are part of a unique animal-assisted therapy program for veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcoholism and other ailments.

The Feathered Friends program at the VA Medical Center gives veterans a chance to work through their issues by caring for orphaned exotic birds.

By DAVE PHILIPPS | JAN. 7, 2015
New York Times

COLORADO SPRINGS — Nearly 200 sick and wounded soldiers in a gym at Fort Carson last month listened silently as Lt. Col. Daniel Gade offered a surprising warning: The disability checks designed to help troops like them after they leave the service might actually be harmful.

Young veterans want the public to listen to their needs, not worship them as 'heroes.'

By Chris Marvin Nov. 11, 2014 | 11:00 a.m. EST | U.S. News and World Report

By the end of this year, the Pentagon will have only about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan. As 13 years of combat operations come to a close, it’s time to pivot. We need to turn our attention toward service members and veterans here at home, and we need to engage with them.

By Leo Shane III
Military Times Staff writer
Oct. 10, 2014 - 10:59AM

The American Legion has a message for federal workers upset over veterans preference rules: Get over it.

“Those who have served in uniform have earned such preference,” American Legion National Commander Michael Helm said in a statement late Thursday. “Helping those who have served in uniform, especially disabled veterans, get jobs is a policy that must remain in place.”

A Veterans benefit outreach was held at the Turtle Mountain Community College Auditorium in Belcourt on September 4th with representatives from the Minot Vet Center; Brenda Bergsrud, ND DVA; Grand Forks CBOC; Military Outreach, NDNG Family Assistance Coordinator, Lutheran Social Services, VA Home loan program and VA Voc Rehab.  Veterans were also educated on Agent Orange presumptive conditions and benefits. 

By Martin Matishak - 07/19/14 11:14 AM EDT