Free Republic

ATLANTA (AP) -- Democrats hope to enlist military veterans in another type of fight - for majority control of the House. Looking ahead to next year's elections, Democrats are trying to recruit at least two dozen military veterans to challenge Republican incumbents. Democrats say candidates with military on their resumes appeal to independent voters and can help the party break the GOP grip on Washington.

A few months back, I wrote an article for Townhall.com about the Veterans Administration. In light of Memorial Day, I thought it would be a great idea to revisit the VA and some of the developments that have transpired since then. At first, I was not a fan of Secretary David Shulkin. One of three Trump appointees that I questioned, I felt he had made it a point to be somewhat of a career politician. I believed what we needed in that position was not an Obama-holdover appointee, but a businessman who specialized in turning around organizations. I have to...

USAA, an insurance, bank and financial services company that caters to active duty military, veterans and their families, is getting slammed by members after announcing on Twitter Wednesday night the company was withdrawing advertising on the Sean Hannity show in response to pressure from liberal activists trying to silence Hannity by cutting off his advertising base. It was not stated by USAA if they advertised on Hannity’s Fox News Channel show or his nationally syndicated radio show.Hannity is a strong supporter of the military and veterans. He has a strong fan base among the military community.The effort to drive Hannity...

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced Clearwater Organic Farms LLC, the nation’s largest hydroponic commercial greenhouse, will locate its operations in Monroe County. The company will build a 15 acre, 650,000 square foot facility at Eastman Business Park. It will produce locally grown, organic baby leaf greens year-round. The project will create 137 new full-time jobs in packaging, shipping, receiving and warehousing; 55 of those jobs are reserved for veterans or those who are underemployed. “The new Clearwater Organic Farms facility will drive innovation, create jobs for New Yorkers who need them most and bolster economic growth throughout the region,” Cuomo...

(Editors Note, this commentary was co-authored with Matthew Howe) On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of our Nation’s greatest speeches, the Gettysburg Address. The purpose was to dedicate the Soldier’s National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the site of a battle fought that year in July that turned the tide of the Civil War. President Lincoln was not the primary speaker for the event, but his words are everlasting. His closing words of a speech that was less than 270 words are very appropriate for today. This is what President Lincoln said, “It is rather for us to...

Last Saturday, the 13th of May, I posted my article about the day I was wounded in Vietnam. hereBecause I had such wonderful responses and because a flood of memories have come back, I decide to write the next part of the story, my time in the hospitals after that pivotal day all those years ago.As I described before, I had been shot on May 13th, 1967 and underwent surgery that evening in Charlie Med, Danang Vietnam. That following morning I woke up in a Spica cast, a plaster sheath that enclosed my whole body from the top of my...

Armed Forces Medley The music is from America's Favorite Patriotic Songs. A tribute to the 5 branches of our armed forces consisting of each of their individual service hymns.

As a new mother, Melania Trump marveled over her son, Barron. "The love. It's unconditional love," she told the Palm Beach Daily News in an interview published on her first Mother's Day. For much of her husband's chaotic presidency so far, Mrs. Trump has stayed out of Washington. Similarly, during Donald Trump's campaign, she remained in the background and did not display deep passion for any particular policy issue. But in the 2006 interview about her baby, she seems in awe. "It's a miracle almost, I could say, that two people can create," she said. "It's very, very special." Her...

CATOOSA COUNTY, GEORGIA (RNN) - A dispute between a funeral home and the family of a deceased veteran went viral after Heritage Funeral Home refused to provide a coffin for the visitation. The Georgia funeral home initially declined the family of George Taylor, a deceased Vietnam War veteran, a coffin due to finances. During the visitation, he was placed on a gurney with a flag draped over him. James Taylor, the son of the deceased George Taylor, told WTVC that his family agreed to the arrangement, but it was a "disgrace" to his father. Ella Moss took to social media...

Mr. President, we sent you to D.C. to drain the swamp. Firing FBI Director James Corey was a good start. I don't know a single conservative who trusted him. Now it's time to drain the VA swamp. Because hero vets dying in battle is a tragedy. But allowing our heroes to die on American soil at the hands of the Veterans Administration because of neglect, indifference, incompetence, or pure criminal negligence is a national disgrace. This story isn’t about a generic vet. This is the story of Sgt. Eric Thomsen, United States Air Force. Eric lost his battle. He committed...

Another American hero vet has committed suicide. Except this one is personal. This one hits home. This one isn’t just a statistic, or generic. His name was Sgt. Eric Thomsen. I’ll get to his tragic story in a moment. President Obama ignored vets like Sgt. Thomsen for eight long years. A massive scandal engulfed the Veterans Administration during Obama’s presidency. Vets died on fake waiting lists. Fraud was committed because there wasn’t the money to treat our heroes. So, government employees committed criminal acts to make them go away. Vets died. Obama chose to fire or punish none of the...

On Tuesday, the Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit ruled that the firing of former Phoenix Veterans Affairs (VA) Director Sharon Helman, a convicted felon, was unconstitutional. While this does not mean Helman will return to work, the ruling may strike a powerful blow against VA accountability reform. "Today's ruling underscores yet again the need for swift congressional action to afford the Secretary effective and defensible authority to take timely and meaningful action against VA employees whose conduct or performance undermines Veterans' trust in VA care or services," VA Secretary David Shulkin declared in a statement. He praised H.R. 1259,...

Over the weekend we saw another story emerge which reminds us that the lingering effects of the VA scandal are far from gone and too much work remains to be done. It’s not that we haven’t seen some signs of progress at the agency. Shortly after President Trump decided to keep David Shulkin around and place him in charge of the VA, the new Secretary begged for expanded authority to fire failing workers. That prompted the President to create what I like to think of as the Office of Your Butt is Fired inside the VA. That office clearly...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. North Carolina police say they're investigating the possible suicide of an Army veteran charged with shooting her service dog as she laughed. Fayetteville Police Lt. Todd Joyce said Sunday investigators believe that 23-year-old Marinna Rollins killed herself. Joyce declined to explain what evidence detectives found. He says police were called to her apartment early Sunday after her body was found by friends. Rollins and 25-year-old Jarren Heng were charged last month with cruelty to animals after investigators say they tied the dog to a tree and shot it multiple times with a rifle.

Senior White House aide Kellyanne Conway on Friday railed against Democrats criticizing the GOP plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, suggesting they failed to put in the same effort during the 2014 Veterans Affairs wait-list scandal. "Where the hell were those Democrats – excuse me – when veterans were dying waiting for care?" Conway said on Fox News. "I didn't see them coming on TV with hosts that just sat there listening to them and their screed when there were veterans dying for care and deserve better." Scandal erupted in the Veterans Health Administration in 2014 amid revelations of negligence...

An atheist group that is known for targeting supposed violations of the separation between church and state recently protested a Holocaust memorial because the monument plans to feature a Star of David.The Freedom From Religion Foundation, or FFRF, has stated its opposition to the proposed Ohio Statehouse Holocaust memorial because its leaders believe that including the religious symbol would create "legal precedent."The co-presidents of the FFRF, Don Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, wrote a letter to Richard Finan, chair of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board about the proposed memorial, The Blaze reported.“Permitting one permanent sectarian and exclusionary religious...

More than 100 supporters showed up to a rally in a small Mississippi town Saturday to fight back after being forced to remove a Christian flag flying over Veterans Memorial Park. One organization stepped in and threatened to sue if the flag wasn’t taken down. But the Christian supporters say they’re not backing down. “There just comes a point in time when you’ve got to be politically incorrect and take a stand,” said organizer Kevin Nelms. They rode from the VFW in Corinth, 12 miles, to the Veterans Memorial Park in Rienzi, proudly waving their Christian flags. The same flag...

BELLE PLAINE, Minn. (AP) — A veterans’ memorial park in Minnesota will soon include a satanic monument among its tributes. The city is allowing the monument in its Veterans Memorial Park after the Freedom from Religion Foundation threatened to sue over another statue that features a soldier praying over a grave marked with a cross. The cross was removed once the issue was raised, but residents rallied to put it back.

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin says his department is seeking to close perhaps more than 1,100 VA facilities nationwide as it develops plans to allow more veterans to receive medical care in the private sector. At a House hearing Wednesday, Shulkin said the VA had identified more than 430 vacant buildings and 735 that he described as underutilized, costing the federal government $25 million a year. He said the VA would work with Congress in prioritizing buildings for closure and was considering whether to follow a process the Pentagon had used in recent decades to decide which of its underused...

In what could've been a regularly scheduled event held by the American Legion or an attempt at damage control, the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center was the site of a town hall meeting where veterans could let air their comments to the new acting director, Lawrence Connell, regarding the recent and damaging IG report on that facility.