Free Republic

Remembering the Vets who gave their lives in training to go to war.

A group of veterans from the Vietnam War who recently met for a reunion in Florida are searching for one of their comrades who they only knew by a nickname. 'Louisiana' is seen in photos with curly brown hair and a goofy face and his friends from the war remember the warm personality he had during the dark times. 'The picture represents the beautiful grin he had almost all the time,' said veteran James Garvin - who took the photo - to WBRZ. According to a Facebook post from wife Susan Waldrop Garvin, 'Louisiana' was a grunt on the ground,...

President Trump donated his salary for the first quarter of 2018 to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the White House said Thursday. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Trump’s $100,000 quarterly salary will go toward the VA’s caregiver programs. The president is donating his salary each quarter to "important projects," she said....

The mayor of Jacksonville has responded to growing outrage after Jaguar Power Sports was issued a warning citation for their patriotic rooftop flag display. Store employees say the incident also involved mistreatment of a veteran....snip...On Monday, Melinda Power, a city of Jacksonville inspector, issued a warning citation for the display, saying the military flags were in violation of city code. She entered the store accompanied by her supervisor.

PAMELA MURPHY All these years later, she’s still remembered by newspaper editors and publishers in small towns across this country wanting to know if they can reprint for their readers a column I wrote on her death. Sure, I tell them, go ahead. We had her all to ourselves out here for so long working at the Sepulveda VA, we almost took her for granted — as if that were ever really possible. There never has been a woman who commanded so much attention and respect from the first moment the veterans heard whispers in the VA hallways about who...

Veterans returned to the U.S. after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam a half century ago, but hundreds of them may be dying from a silent bullet — a slow-killing parasite living in the men decades after the war, a new study revealed. Liver flukes, parasites that infect a human when raw or undercooked fish is eaten, are being investigated as the cause of a rare bile duct cancer among veterans who served in the Vietnam War. It could take years for symptoms to show up, but when they do, the host is left with tremendous pain and given just...

On Veterans Day, it is important for those who have never served to take a moment to understand the solitary world of a vet. Millions of vets are and have been successful in all endeavors. They are doctors, lawyers, business people and a thousand other professions. Not all have PTSD; not all are the troubled, brooding, street corner homeless guy, although they exist and need help desperately. No matter how successful a vet might be materially, more often than not, vets are often alone, mentally and spiritually each day and for the rest of their lives. Vets’ stories are all...

A program that prepares service dogs for permanent placement with wounded veterans and their families has been booted from Fort Belvoir and Walter Reed without explanation, the program's executive director says. GERMANTOWN, Md. — The Warrior Canine Connection, a program that uses an army of volunteer puppy raisers, dog trainers and veterans to prepare service dogs for wounded veterans and their families, has been partnering with military facilities in the D.C. region since 2009. But suddenly — and without explanation — that came to a stop, says Warrior Canine Connection Executive Director Rick Yount. He said his trainers and puppy...

Veterans group claims motto ‘symbolizes the agency’s resistance to gender equity’The VA is defending its motto this week against charges that it “symbolizes​ ​the agency’s​ ​resistance​ ​to​ ​gender​ ​equity.” A portion of Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865 has been deemed “sexist” as a VA motto by the nonprofit organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The group wrote a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin this week demanding a change, which it says would “better support women.” The motto in question, in place since 1959, reads: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for...

Hi, what's the way for my 94-yr-old WWII Navy Vet father to obtain papers proving his veteran's status? He went through Midshipman's school, and was then recruited into the Naval Language Program. Obviously he received papers when he was discharged (DD-214?), but 72 years and 17+ moves later, there's not a prayer he'd ever find them. He's never once asked a store about a Veteran's discount. (Similarly, he never asks for Senior discounts, nor for the handicapped license plate he is greatly overqualified for, and he won't return defective goods to stores unless pushed hard to do so. Guess it's...

Since my memory isn't the best, label this historical fiction but this is my best recollection. I am sure I am missing a lot of colorful language and emotion. The man was teared up and by the end everyone was teared up. Vet: What I would say to anyone who doesn't respect our flag. Let me tell you my experience son. When I cover my heart, I think of my friend Lojo. That was what everyone called him. We were best friends and bunkmates. We played cards every night because there was nothing else to do. He and I worked...

Honorably discharged veterans from all branches of service will soon have extra cash in their pockets. Veterans who receive an honorable discharge will be able to shop tax-free at Army and Air Force Exchange stores online, where they will be able to get the same discounts as active duty military personnel, the Associated Press (AP) reports. “It’s a modest benefit, but it can save you thousands of dollars a year,” said Exchange CEO Tom Shull, an alumnus of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, who embarked on a career in retail after serving for a decade in the U.S....

New Hillary Clinton Email Confirms She Used Blackberry Against Security Advice Why Did Trump Administration Suspend Sanctuary City Reports? Veterans Affairs Sued For Info on Homeless Vets Plan New Hillary Clinton Email Confirms She Used Blackberry Against Security Advice What did the Russians know, and when did they know it? A question for today and President Trump? Actually we should be asking this about the years when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. The illicit system she cobbled together to send and receive emails was essentially transparent to the Russians and, for that matter, anyone else with a smidgen...

Left-wing news outlet Vox attacked Marines on Memorial Day, claiming in an article that the Marine Corps has a “toxic masculinity problem.” The article, which was simply titled “The Marine Corps has a ‘toxic masculinity’ problem,” continued to claim that the Marine Corps often “marginalizes or mistreats female troops.” Citing the Marines United nude photo sharing scandal, Vox staff writer and defense correspondent Alex Ward attempted to link the Marines with systemic sexism and listed ways how the Corps could get rid of their “toxic masculinity.” “And to be fair, it’s not just the Marines. Sexual assault has increased in...

Texas Rep. Jody Arrington has introduced legislation to require VA to track the use of official time. An estimated 346 employees in the Department of Veterans Affairs do no actual work for taxpayers. Instead, they spend all of their time doing work on behalf of their union while drawing a federal salary, a practice known as "official time." ... The lack of accountability at the VA when it comes to monitoring official time suggests it might be worse ... Pointing to the waiting list scandals at the department, Arrington said the official time situation is reflective of the "broken culture...

Agents of the Saudi Arabian government are using US veterans as pawns in a scheme to gut a new law clearing a path for 9/11 families to sue the kingdom for its alleged role in the attacks, several vets complained in interviews with The Post. “I joined the Marine Corps as a direct result of 9/11, so to be wined and dined by the very people I joined to fight against, that was sickening,” said Timothy Cord, who served as a Marine sergeant in Iraq. Vets say the Saudi scam involves soliciting them to go on all-expenses-paid trips to Washington...

FULL TITLE: Couple share horrific photo of an elderly patient collapsed on the floor at a VA hospital waiting room in North Carolina Disturbing photos taken inside a Veterans Administration hospital have emerged on social media showing an elderly patient laying on the floor and another apparently doubled over with pain in a wheelchair. The unsettling images were taken by former US Marine Stephen McMenamin and his wife, Hanna, and posted on Facebook. The shocking images sparked fury online and triggered an internal investigation at the hospital in Durham, North Carolina. The head of the medical center says an employee...

Plans are apparently underway for President Trump to headline a huge rally in the UK when he visits the country, with proceeds from the event going to a charity for British veterans who have served in the Armed Forces.

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than 44,000 volunteers turned out even in the icy, cold and rainy weather to carefully lay 245,000 remembrance wreaths at t Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, as part of “Wreaths Across America.” It was the 25th year that wreaths have been placed at Arlington National Cemetery. The theme for this year’s event was #SayTheirNames. The wreaths are placed at grave sites nationwide to honor and remember fallen veterans and their service. After placing a wreath, volunteers are encouraged to take time to read the headstone, to honor the memory of that fallen hero and to say...

When elderly World War II veterans go to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to receive urgent care, they may be greeted by child molesters, ex-convicts, men with face tattoos and gun-wielding rapists. Eleven sex offenders list the John D. Dingell VA Hospital in Detroit as their work address. Within the VA’s regional office for Ohio, Indiana and Michigan, 30 sex predators work at nine facilities, according to the records. . . . Three men listing the Detroit hospital as their work address are currently in violation of their sex offender registry requirements and are being sought by authorities.