Government Shutdown Will Add To VA's Backlog
Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: All right. The partial government shutdown could take an especially painful toll on American veterans. The most serious consequences will not come unless the shutdown...
View ArticleVets-Turned-Firefighters Find Brotherhood, Purpose
Veteran Chris Delplato wanted to be a firefighter for a long time."Ever since I was a little kid — [toy] truck and everything," Delplato says. But he only just got his dream job, after first joining...
View ArticleOther-Than-Honorable Discharge Burdens Like A Scarlet Letter
Eric Highfill spent five years in the Navy, fixing airplanes for special operations forces. His discharge papers show an Iraq campaign medal and an Afghanistan campaign medal, a good-conduct medal, and...
View ArticleFor Veterans, 'Bad Paper' Is A Catch-22 For Treatment
Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: In many ways, military veterans hold a privileged place in American society, but not all vets have access to what goes along with that privilege. In the past decade of...
View ArticleAn Honorable Last Wish For A Dying Marine
Hal Faulkner is 79 years old and he's already lived months longer than his doctors predicted."I don't know what to say, it's just incredible that I'm still here," Faulkner says in a halting voice made...
View ArticleFallujah Veterans Ask Hard Questions About Their Sacrifices
Will Walsh got to know the Iraqi city of Fallujah while running across its bridges in the middle of the night, under fire, looking for IEDs. That was nearly 10 years ago.Last weekend, the former Army...
View ArticleWinter Census Tallies Homeless Veterans
Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning.On the way into work this morning, I felt a blast of cold air on my face. It was 19 degrees in...
View ArticleYale Law Students Raise Case For Discharged Vets
Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: In the U.S., posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD has become part of our national vocabulary. During the Vietnam War, though, it wasn't yet a medical diagnosis, nor was...
View ArticleAmong Soldiers, Risk Of Suicide May Have Surprising Roots
Transcript AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: And I'm Melissa Block.For years, people in the military had a lower rate of suicide...
View ArticleFrom War In The Desert To 'Murder Ball On Ice'
It might not exactly be doctor's orders, but it made perfect sense to Josh Sweeney."If you hit somebody, you feel a lot better," he says, making his way off the ice from a grueling practice with the...
View ArticleAfter A Long Wait, 24 Models In Heroism Get Their Due
Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Robert Siegel.AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: And I'm Audie Cornish.On today's program, in interviews and stories from NPR...
View ArticleAs Soldiers Return, Who Is Caring For The Caregivers?
Over a million Americans are caregivers to returning veterans, and in many cases, they're doing so with little government support. As a major report finds, this is having some serious consequences.
View ArticleAmerican Legion Calls For VA Secretary's Resignation
Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: The country's largest veteran's organization wants the secretary of Veterans Affairs to resign. The American Legion hasn't targeted a public official this way since...
View ArticleOn Hill, VA Chief Shinseki Faces Hospital Death Allegations
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before a Senate committee Thursday, responding to allegations that dozens of veterans died during a long wait for medical treatment in the U.S.
View ArticleReport Finds Systemic Problems With VA Wait Lists
Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: A systemic problem nationwide - that's how the Inspector General for Veterans Affairs has described the problem of falsified wait times at VA medical centers. At one...
View ArticleVeterans''Philoctetes' Puts Modern Spin On Ancient Greek Play
Transcript MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: And I'm Robert Siegel. There's an ancient Greek play by Sophocles about a war hero...
View ArticleVA Secretary Apologizes For 'Indefensible' Treatment Delays
Transcript DAVID GREENE, HOST: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Good morning. Eric Shinseki, the embattled secretary of Veterans...
View ArticleEmbattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki Resigns
Transcript STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Good morning, let's hear more now about the resignation of Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. President Obama says he accepted that resignation a short time...
View ArticleShinseki's Apology Punctuates A Long Career Of Service
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki apologized for lengthy waits at VA facilities, saying he's ousting the leaders of a VA hospital in Phoenix, Ariz., after stories about delays in care there....
View ArticleCan Civilian Health Care Help Fix The VA? Congress Weighs In
Veterans across the country are still waiting too long for medical care, a situation that drove the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki last week.Now Republicans and Democrats in...
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