Free Republic

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) -As of Tuesday afternoon, thirteen veterans at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke have died and all residents and staff are being tested for COVID-19. According to Brooke Karanovich from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the following was confirmed by the Soldiers Home Tuesday: According to Brooke Karanovich from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the following was confirmed by the Soldiers Home Tuesday: 13 veteran resident deaths (6 tested positive for COVID-19, 5 pending test results, 1 negative and 1 is unknown 10 veteran residents have tested positive for COVID-19 25 veteran...

Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC), the popular veteran-owned business known for their coffee, announced the launch of their “Buy a Bag, Give a Bag” initiative in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. From March 24th to April 3rd, 2020, for every coffee product purchased on their website BRCC will donate a bag of coffee or other coffee products to medical personnel, first responders, and service members fighting on the frontlines of COVID-19. “Since founding Black Rifle Coffee Co., it has been my goal to serve high-quality coffee to men and women who put service before self,” said BRCC founder and CEO...

FORT THOMAS, Ky. -- Dozens of veterans were caught off guard Thursday when they were informed they were being discharged from an inpatient program at the Fort Thomas VA hospital. The domiciliary is being converted for use as an isolation space for COVID-19 patients.

Now a charity with nationwide reach, the nonprofit Code of Vets alleviates hardships faced by thousands of Americans who’ve come home from honorable military service. The cases they handle range from evictions and foreclosures to post-traumatic stress disorder and other medical issues. Yet their effort began not even three years ago as a mere Twitter page, recognizing the life and memory of one devoted patriot, Sergeant Danny Smiley. A Bronze Star Medal recipient who served in Vietnam and was exposed to agent orange, Smiley lost his battle with PTSD at the age of 57. His daughter is Gretchen Smith, herself...

LEBANON — Two presumptive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus were identified Wednesday afternoon at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans Home, Linn County officials confirmed Wednesday. Todd Noble, director of the Linn County Public Health Department, said Linn County and the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs notified the Oregon Health Authority, which took samples from two male residents in their 80s. Both samples came back positive and have been sent to the Centers for Disease Control.

The last time we checked in on Chelsea Manning, she had been in jail on contempt charges for nearly a year and was running up massive fines that the judge ruled would have to be paid. Manning also wasn’t being released without agreeing to testify before the grand jury investigating Julian Assange and the Wikileaks debacle. But now the story has reportedly taken a darker turn. Yesterday, Manning was transported to the hospital after allegedly attempting to commit suicide in her jail cell. (Fox News) Former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning tried to “take her own life” in a...

Peggy Hubbard is a veteran, former police officer, and retired IRS analyst, and Harley enthusiast. She speaks out for what she believes in, keeps her word, and does what is right, even when it isn’t easy. ..... Peggy was a supporter of Donald Trump in the Republican primary. She believes in America and understands we need more representatives who are not politicians, who are willing to put the American people and our freedoms first. People who will get serious about renegotiating lousy trade deals, fight for our military and veterans, support law enforcement, support criminal justice reform, support the American...

On Tuesday, March 3, 2020, the President signed into law: H.J.Res. 80, which authorizes VA to refer certain veterans for dental care in the community; S. 394, the “Presidential Transition Enhancement Act of 2019,” which provides for changes to how the General Services Administration provides services and facilities to Presidents-elect and Vice Presidents-elect and makes other changes to the Presidential transition process; and S. 2107, the “Protecting America’s Food and Agriculture Act of 2019,” which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection to hire additional agricultural specialists, agricultural technicians, and canine inspection teams to improve the...

Strangers laid an unclaimed Air Force veteran to rest in her hometown of Dandridge, Tennessee on Saturday. More than 100 people, including veterans and community members, chose to pay their respects to a woman they never met. Charlotte "CJ" Birch was from Dandridge, but died from pancreatic cancer while living in Pennsylvania. Her remains weren't claimed by family for over a year and a half. One of Birch's close friends who lives in Illinois, Genie Wachter, decided her friend deserved a proper burial. She took the 81-year-old Air Force veteran's ashes down to Hills Union Cemetery in Dandridge, where she...

The United States would not be able to care for its millions of veterans if it becomes a socialist country, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) secretary cautioned Breitbart News at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday. Asked to make the case against socialism during an edition of Breitbart News Saturday, airing on SiriusXM 125, at the 2020 CPAC event, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie warned host and Washington Political Editor Matthew Boyle: “If America were suddenly to descend into a socialists State, that promise Lincoln made 150 years ago is wiped out. There’s no longer any...

The Silver Star Families of America, the SSFOA, is well aware of the dangers of opioids in all their various forms and, for the most part, agrees with the new federal and state guidelines that are tightening up the distribution of the drugs as long as it does not adversely affect the veteran population. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/rr/rr6501e1.htm

A group of Trump supporters on Wednesday was spotted carrying a World War II veteran to his seat before the president’s rally in Phoenix, Ariz., video shows. A clip posted to Twitter shows two men, one donning a Trump hat, carrying the vet down a flight of stairs at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The crowd can be heard chanting “USA! USA!” in the background. https://twitter.com/KariLakeFox10/status/1230260022652784641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1230260022652784641&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fconservativeus.com%2Fvideo-heartwarming-moment-as-president-trump-honors-wwii-vet-carried-to-his-seat-by-fellow-trump-supporters%2F President Trump didn’t forget the sacrifice this man did so that he can attend his rally and decided to honor him. In true Trump fashion, the President recognized 100-year-old WWII veteran Irvin Julian, who...

Over the past two decades, China's People's Liberation Army has transformed itself from a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military. Although China continues to lag the United States in terms of aggregate military hardware and operational skills, it has improved its relative capabilities in many critical areas. To advance the public debate, RAND used open, unclassified sources to compile The U.S.-China Military Scorecard: Forces, Geography, and the Evolving Balance of Power. This comprehensive report examines U.S. and Chinese military capabilities in ten operational areas, and presents a "scorecard" for each.Each scorecard assesses the relative advantage or disadvantage...

This is a special episode of the Sara Carter Show. Sara A. Carter spoke with Jennifer Brian of the Southeastern Guide Dog School about the new addition to Sara's family, a new guide dog for her husband. Brian explained to Carter how the special bond between the animal and the owner is created and how the training process begins before the dog is even born.

A day can’t go by without an arrest of a child predator broadcast online. Several of these predators were hunted by a scarcely known group of specially trained law enforcement operatives that were recruited from the ranks of the U.S. military. The operatives all had something in common; they bore wounds from their service to the Nation. Starting in late 2013, with little fanfare, this select group of wounded warriors deployed throughout the United States with a new mission, tracking down child predators and rescuing children. With the advent of the internet, child exploitation took on a new form. Gone...

Sickening! Deep State Inspector General—This One Trying to Screw Veterans Democrats trying to kill successful VA healthcare...what would they do with yours? We all remember the Obama years when veterans were dying while waiting for healthcare at VA hospitals. Some lived so far away from treatment centers it would take them hours to get there and back. Bogus waiting lists were being presented while the real ones were buried in some bureaucrat’s desk drawer. The solution was a program Veteran’s Choice where disabled veterans were “allowed’ to seek treatment close to home. If they lived forty miles from a treatment...

  Oval OfficeFebruary 11, 20204:13 P.M.  ESTTHE PRESIDENT:  Okay.  Thank you very much.  We are today signing the Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act.  It’s a big deal and the people behind me have been so involved — our senators, our congressmen.  We’re missing a few great senators because we’re approving, I think, five judges today.  And Marco Rubio was very much involved in this process and helped everybody very much and so I want to thank him.But we’re taking action to increase access to education and job opportunities in science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science for our...

Recent news reports showed that veteran suicide rates are still high. “Firearms were also singled out by researchers” for being used in nearly 70 percent of veteran suicides, while they are used in less than half of non-veteran suicides. The disparity is obvious, but unexplainable. However, a spending bill to research the root causes behind veteran suicides may help us find answers and save lives. Recently, Congress passed a landmark bill that will allocate $25 million in research funds to study veteran suicides and other forms of gun violence, lifting an unusual ban that prevented the federal government from researching firearm-related...

“Imagine what it would do for our country and those who live here if we were to take the ethos behind the original G.I. Bill and apply it to everybody — canceling all student debt and making public colleges, universities, and vocational schools tuition-free,” she tweeted Thursday

One of the few remaining Navajo Code Talkers who used their native language to confound the Japanese in World War II has died. The family of Joe Vandever Sr. says he died Friday of health complications in Haystack, New Mexico. He was 96. Tribal leaders called him a great warrior and a compassionate family man.  He was among hundreds of Navajos who served in the U.S. Marine Corps transmitting messages using a code based on the Navajo language. It was never broken. His death leaves less than a handful of Navajo Code Talkers still alive.