veterans

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US Veteran Sets Self on Fire Outside VA Clinic

Charles Richard Ingram III died that day

(Newser) - A veteran of the US Navy walked nine miles to a Veterans Affairs clinic in New Jersey earlier this month, poured gasoline on himself, and set himself ablaze. Charles Richard Ingram III, 51, died later on March 19 at a burn center in Philadelphia. "Gasoline burns extremely hot, so...

Wounded Warrior Fires CEO Over Misspending Mess

Amid accusations of wasteful expenditures, COO now gone, too

(Newser) - The board of Wounded Warrior Project, one of the nation's largest veteran support groups, has fired two top officials amid news reports accusing the group of wasteful spending , the AP reports. According to a statement released late Thursday on behalf of the group, CEO Steve Nardizzi and COO Al...

First American to Have Penis Transplant Is Selected

It will be the third such transplant attempted in the world

(Newser) - December brought the news that Johns Hopkins University planned to attempt the first penis transplants in the US; now, the first candidate has been selected. An American soldier wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan will be the first person in the US, and the third in the world, to undergo...

Calls to VA Suicide Line Went to Voicemail

In-crisis veterans put on hold, sent to voicemail, with calls never returned: report

(Newser) - The Oscar-winning film Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 documents the counselors who man the phones for the 24-hour service, but it never mentions the suicidal veterans who are put on hold or sent to voicemail, with calls never returned—a fact made public last week in a report from the...

For Gay Man Kicked Out of Army in 1955, Vindication

Ohio's Donald Hallman was discharged as 'Class II homosexual'

(Newser) - An 82-year-old Ohio veteran is receiving an honorable discharge more than a half-century after the Army kicked him out for being gay, the AP reports. Donald Hallman of Columbus requested a reversal of his 1955 undesirable discharge status after President Barack Obama repealed the military's "Don't Ask...

Ex-Staffers: Wounded Warriors Squanders Millions

Charity funds lavish parties, retreats for workers: report

(Newser) - Donated to the Wounded Warrior Project? You might've helped fund lavish parties for employees rather than veterans in need. A two-part CBS News investigation, based on interviews with more than 40 former employees, finds millions in Wounded Warrior donations have been wasted. "Their mission is to honor and...

WWII Sweethearts to Reunite on Valentine's Day

Norwood Thomas hopes to give his wartime girlfriend a 'squeeze'

(Newser) - Norwood Thomas' reunion with his wartime girlfriend was incredible, but it came with one major drawback: "I can't take you in my arms and give you a squeeze," the 93-year-old World War II vet told Joyce Morris, 88, during a Skype call in November. "Well, we'...

Palin Seems to Partly Blame Obama for Her Son's Arrest

'I guess it's kind of the elephant in the room'

(Newser) - A day after Sarah Palin's son Track was arrested on domestic violence charges, the former governor of Alaska appeared to blame his troubles—at least partly—on President Obama not supporting veterans, the Washington Post reports. "I guess it's kind of the elephant in the room because...

Lawmaker: Let Female Pilots' Ashes Rest at Arlington

Arizona congresswoman files legislation to that effect

(Newser) - An Arizona congresswoman filed legislation Wednesday to ensure that a group of female World War II pilots can have their ashes laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The pilots known as Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, flew military aircraft in noncombat roles during wartime to free up male...

For One Marine Unit, Suicide Has Become Commonplace

'Why our battalion? I’m at a damn loss'

(Newser) - The New York Times has a tragic look at a former Marine who killed himself—the 14th member of his unit to do so—earlier this month and why the government doesn't seem to be able to do more to address the mental health of veterans. Tyler Schlagel, 29,...

Vet, 75, Saves Kids From Knife-Wielding Attacker

He used his 50-year-old training to disarm man allegedly bent on killing children

(Newser) - A 75-year-old veteran used his Army knife-fight training to stop a man armed with two hunting knives from going after a roomful of children Tuesday at an Illinois public library, the Pekin Daily Times reports. Sixteen children were getting a chess lesson from James Vernon in a room at the...

Iraq Vet's Son Creates App to Stop Night Terrors

'My team and I won't sleep until the veterans can'

(Newser) - Tyler Skluzacek was in sixth grade when his father, Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Skluzacek, was deployed to Iraq for a year. When he came back, he struggled with night terrors—and now Tyler, a senior at Minnesota's Macalester College, is helping in a big way, KARE 11 reports. As...

Gay Veterans: Upgrade Our Discharges to 'Honorable'

After being kicked out of military, gay veterans fight for recognition

(Newser) - Kicked out of their units, rejected by their churches, denied veterans' benefits and job opportunities after being interrogated about the most personal details of their lives. This was the plight of many of the estimated 100,000 gay US service members discharged between World War II and 2011, when the...

America&#39;s WWII Experiment: Gas Own Soldiers by Race
America's WWII Experiment:
Gas Own Soldiers by Race
investigation

America's WWII Experiment: Gas Own Soldiers by Race

NPR speaks to survivors of the race-based experiments

(Newser) - Since 1993 we've known about a formerly classified government program that saw chemical weapons tested on our own troops during World War II. Today NPR peels back another layer of the onion, reporting that some of the experiments were performed on subjects grouped according to race. NPR says it'...

Veterans' Health-Care Delays Get Even Worse

The VA is also facing a $3B shortfall

(Newser) - The number of veterans seeking health care but ending up on waiting lists of one month or more is 50% higher now than it was a year ago when a scandal over false records and long wait times wracked the Department of Veterans Affairs, the New York Times reports. The...

Bomb Blasts May Be Aging Soldiers&#39; Brains
Bomb Blasts May Be
Aging Soldiers' Brains
NEW STUDY

Bomb Blasts May Be Aging Soldiers' Brains

Even if they were far from the blasts

(Newser) - American soldiers exposed to bomb blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering early brain degeneration and aging—even if they were far from detonation, USA Today reports. In all, 256 veterans and service members between the ages of 19 and 62 were analyzed in a study published today in Brain:...

Jon Stewart Has Been Helping Veterans on the Sly

'Daily Show' 5-week 'boot camp' has been training, placing vets in TV jobs

(Newser) - Jon Stewart's last day on The Daily Show will be Aug. 6 , but there may be a few employees sticking around that he's been hiring on the sly: military veterans. In a surprise revelation in the New York Times , Stewart cops to a stealth "boot camp" he'...

Ailing Vet Calls 911 for Food, Gets 'Miracle'

Clarence Blackmon's story resonated with the dispatcher

(Newser) - Clarence Blackmon, an 81-year-old Army veteran, returned to his North Carolina apartment after battling prostate cancer to find his cupboards bare and his stomach rumbling. "The grocery store wouldn't deliver without a deposit and I couldn't make it there," he tells the Huffington Post . So he...

University of Florida to ZBT Frat: Buh-Bye

UF chapter closed after members accused of spitting on veterans

(Newser) - Future pledges interested in joining Zeta Beta Tau will have to go somewhere other than the University of Florida. The Gainesville Sun reports that the school's chapter of the fraternity is now closed in the wake of an April 17 incident in Panama City Beach in which ZBT members...

Florida Frat Suspended Over Harassment of Vets

Zeta Beta Tau members allegedly spit on them at resort

(Newser) - Another nasty frat story is making headlines, this time from the University of Florida. The school has suspended Zeta Beta Tau over allegations that drunken members were abusive to military veterans, even spitting on them, reports the Gainesville Sun . It took place last weekend at a resort in Panama City...

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