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God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

"What is a vet? He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn’t run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the38th parallel.. She or he is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.. He is the POW who went away one person and...

It came through an online message board from a village in eastern France. Attached was a photo of a standard-issue U.S. Army duffel bag, and the name on it in faded block letters was unmistakable: WILLIAM A. KADAR. "I can't believe this," Arleen Haas, 33, recalled thinking as she looked at the photo again and again. Kadar, her grandfather, had fought in eastern France during World War II, winning a Purple Heart and enduring a string of POW camps in the closing months of the war. Haas has spent much of her life collecting and preserving memories for her grandfather,...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Veterans are returning to New York City from their service only to be faced with going hungry, the head a city food bank said. As WCBS 880′s Monica Miller reported, Margarette Purvis, president and CEO of the Food Bank for New York City, tried to raise awareness about the plight of former service members during a speech in the Bronx on Sunday. Veterans Day is Monday. “On this Veterans Day, when we’re waving our flags — I need every New Yorker to know — 40 percent of New York City veterans are relying on soup kitchens...

As we pause to remember and honor the service of our veterans on this Veterans Day, let us also remember those veterans who are all too often remain forgotten – even when we take the time to remember those who were intentionally overlooked for so many years. Just three of these examples include the Filipino Scouts of World War II, the US Soldiers and their Korean Augmentees who fought and died along the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) in Korea in the years after the Korean War ceasefire was signed, and the Hmong tribesmen who fought along with our Special Forces in...

This Veterans Day, let’s honor our warriors, not patronize them. We veterans resent the left glomming on to us to justify the welfare state, responding to any observation regarding the millions of liberal-voting deadbeats feeding off of Uncle Sucker with the smug rejoinder “What about the veterans who need help? Why do you hate veterans?” Like progressives ever cared about our warriors – the only reason they aren’t lined up to spit on our returning fighters is they know they’d get their teeth knocked in. Let’s be clear – being a veteran is not a “Get out of work...

LANCASTER, Calif. – When Jerral Hancock came home from the Iraq war missing one arm, with another that barely worked and a paralyzed body that was burned all over, he was a hero to the Mojave Desert town of Lancaster, Calif. When he got home, however, he would be forgotten by all but his two young children and his parents. That was until the students in Jamie Goodreau's U.S. history classes learned about how he got stuck in his modest mobile home for half a year...

Two military chaplains are suing Eric Shinseki, secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, or VA, for allegedly being harassed and drummed out of a training and placement program because of their Christian faith. Chaplains Major Steven Firtko, U.S. Army (Retired) and Lieutenant Commander Dan Klender, U.S. Navy, claim they were mocked, scolded and threatened for their faith while enrolled in the San Diego VA-DOD Clinical Pastoral Education Center program, which trains and distributes chaplains to military and VA medical centers in the San Diego area. According to their lawsuit, Firtko and Klender allege the Center’s supervisor, Ms. Nancy...

It’s one thing to say, “Thank a veteran.” It’s another to actually do something to show that gratitude. Take the World War II veterans that made headlines last month during the government shutdown. Largely overlooked in the furor that erupted when they were barricaded from their own memorial is how they got to Washington, D.C., in the first place: through a non-profit group known as the Honor Flight Network. The seed that would create the HFN was planted shortly after the WWII memorial opened in 2004. Earl Morse, a retired Air Force captain working in a Department of Veterans...

Veterans Day 2013 free meals and free events are offered to veterans and active duty service members. On Monday, Nov. 11, a veteran can actually have a free breakfast, lunch and dinner while heading out for some free events in between meals! Then they can top the day off with the many offerings of free food for snacks, according to The Parade Magazine on Nov. 8. The nation is finding all sorts of ways to thank the veterans and the active military today as their service to the country is so appreciated. Military Benefits website offered up some of the...

OK, after having searched the internets in vain for a balanced (i.e. not history rewritten by America-hating libtards) reading list on modern U.S. Military history, perhaps you can help. If you can personally recommend books covering the following, I'd greatly appreciate it: World War II Korean War Vietnam War Operation Desert Storm Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom others...?

President Barack Obama is marking Veterans Day by making it his mission to ensure America has the back of its veterans. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says now that more veterans are coming home from wars, the U.S. must serve them as well. He’s promoting programs to hire and educate veterans. …

This is one of the most powerful and patriotic tributes to the sacrifice of our military and their familes I have seen in a while. It's only six minutes and you have to watch till the very end to get the full experience but it is more than worth it. The Call to Serve - Short Film

We don't spend much time examining the underpinnings on which our lives rest. We remember the cops and firefighters and EMTs when we need them -- and when we need them, we really need them -- but otherwise, we've got things to do, or think about doing, or get out of doing. We may volunteer to do some work for our church or political party or civic club. Or maybe not. We may vote, or not. We sit in classrooms listening to another lecture. Or maybe even giving one. We take the kids to school on the way to work....

NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 NEWS) – Shortly after U.S. Army Scout Steve Blackman retired from the military three years ago, he says he slipped into depression. “I was falling into a very dark place. I didn’t know if I was going to make it out.....[snip]”

The Department of Veterans Affairs dished out hundreds of thousands in cash bonuses to managers who oversaw projects that led to veterans’ deaths, disease outbreaks, a backlog in disability benefits compensation claims, and construction delays. In fact, 13 such instances show bonuses totaling over $550,000.

Bob LoterMUSCATINE, Iowa — When Bob Loter gives a talk to employers about hiring veterans to fill job openings, he knows what he’s talking about. He’s a veteran himself. Loter, the veterans program coordinator for Iowa Workforce Development, served for 20 years in the U.S. Army in the infantry and as a recruiter — two of those years recruiting people in Muscatine. With foot problems and hearing loss suffered during his years as a soldier, he’s also a disabled veteran. “I can’t run up a hill anymore in my combat boots,” he said with a smile. Loter delivered a “Hiring...

"A lingering mystery in the August 2011 helicopter crash that killed 30 U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan is why some bodies were cremated and some were not. ***snip*** "Charles Strange of Philadelphia, Michael’s father, said two Navy casualty representatives informed him that his son was “burnt up.” Based on that information, he said, he and Michael’s mother authorized the petty officer’s cremation. ***snip*** “I looked at the picture. And my son did not have to be cremated. He was laying there. His one ankle was messed up. But he was laying there like he had a gun in his hand. He...

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national non-profit, Stop Soldier Suicide, is asking Americans to stand up for Veterans by taking a seat at the movies on Veterans Day to screen a critically acclaimed film, Happy New Year. This film raises awareness of the struggles Soldiers go through as they transition home and the issues surrounding PTS (Post Traumatic Stress) and suicide. “But if tickets don’t presell, the movie won’t happen, which would send a very sad message to our veterans.” The screenings are hosted nationwide by people who signed up via Stop Soldier Suicide’s Facebook page. One is a mother who lost...

Full title: Pleading the Fifth: Official Won't Answer Questions About Making Parody Videos While Injured Vets Wait for Benefits Veterans coming back from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with severe injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder have been left behind by their government as they desperately wait for a response about disability benefits from the Department of Veteran's affairs. Many veterans returning from war have been waiting for over a year. Currently, the VA system has a backlog of approximately 500,000 cases and they're being cleared extremely slowly, causing further long term pain to veterans and their families. Under relentless pressure...