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It's one of the most powerful pictures from the Iraq war: an 8-year-old, his lip trembling, is handed a folded flag at his father's funeral. The iconic image inspired a family friend - someone the young Christian Golczynski had never met - to send him a present and, later, to launch a foundation that helps hundreds of kids just like him. Every year, A Soldier’s Child sends children of fallen soldiers gifts on their birthday. Christian's father, Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus Golczynski, was killed in Iraq in 2007, so Christian was the first recipient. Now, there are 1,200 in 46...

A group of Republican lawmakers has renewed an effort to undo pension cuts to military retirees included in the recently passed budget agreement and offset the costs by reining in an IRS credit that illegal immigrants have claimed. A new proposal by Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., would remove the adjustments to military retirement benefits and offset the costs by closing a tax loophole that has allowed illegal immigrants to claim fraudulent cash payments through the Refundable Child Tax Credit.

For Florida’s nearly 200,000 military retirees — more than any state except Texas — a budget deal moving through the U.S. Senate Wednesday is projected to shave $20 billion dollars from the country’s deficit in ways that have many veterans organizations outraged. The legislation struck by House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray has a provision that drops the cost of living allowance for military retirees and disabled veterans to 1 percentage point below inflation. That is, if inflation for a given year is 3 percent, cost of living adjustments will rise only 2...

(CNN) – Sen. Patty Murray, co-crafter of the bipartisan budget agreement and member of the veterans affair committee, said Wednesday cuts to pension benefits for some military veterans under the spending plan was a part of a compromise to avoid billions in cuts to the defense industry. "We had to look at how we could find compromises. There are things in this I like and there are things in this I don't like," the Senate Budget Committee chair and Democrat from Washington State said in an interview on CNN's "New Day." "But at the end of the day, if we...

Sen. Patty Murray said a "technical error" in the bipartisan budget deal accidentally would cut pension benefits for retired disabled military veterans, but vowed the problem will be fixed immediately. The Washington state Democrat, who brokered the deal with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., took to the Senate floor Wednesday and promised the "unintended inclusion" would be remedied before the chamber votes on the bill and that benefits for disabled military pensioners wouldn't be cut. "All of us know that our disabled veterans have made tremendous sacrifices for our nation and deserve the peace of mind that their benefits will not...

Above: Illegal aliens made out like banditos thanks to Harry Reid and Senate Democrats. Disabled vets? Not so much.- They actually did it. They are on the record. Senate Democrats, led by their filibuster-slaying dictator Harry Reid, actually put the interests of illegal aliens above those of our disabled military veterans.Let that sink in for a moment. Now the details: The two-year budget deal brokered by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, would cut military pensions by $6 billion over ten years. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, joined by several others in his party, tried...

Senate Republicans were unable to stop military pension cuts when Senate Democrats blocked a vote on an amendment to prevent the cuts by closing a welfare loophole for illegal immigrants Tuesday evening. The two-year budget deal brokered by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, would cut military pensions by $6 billion over ten years, leaving some Senate Republicans scrambling to stop the cuts. “Removing this unbalanced treatment of our military retirees ought to be one of the key actions we should take before this legislation moves forward. In fact, greater savings than this...

A final effort by Senate Republicans to halt cuts to pensions of military retirees failed late Tuesday, after Democrats blocked an amendment to the controversial budget bill. The two-year budget agreement, which cleared a key test vote earlier in the day, was expected to get a final vote no later than Wednesday. Ahead of the final vote, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., tried unsuccessfully to use a parliamentary tactic to force a vote on the amendment, which he wrote to undo the cuts for military retirees. A provision in the already House-passed bill would cut retirement benefits for military retirees by...

<p>Republican senators were making a last-ditch bid to undo cuts to military retiree benefits in the House-passed budget deal ahead of a crucial vote Tuesday morning in the Senate.</p> <p>Alabama GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions filed an amendment late Monday to restore money that was cut from veteran and military retiree pension benefits by closing a loophole that allows illegal immigrants to qualify for child tax credits.</p>

It's time for retired veterans to face cuts as the federal government looks for ways to trim expenditures, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Monday. "Civilian federal employees have been cut, cut, cut. I think there was a feeling, if you're going to cut them further, which was done, that the military retirees should have about an equal amount. It's small," the New York Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." In the budget plan brokered by Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan and Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, military service personnel under the age of 62 would take a one percent cut to retirement...

The holiday season should be a time of faith -- a time to show compassion for those in the military, as well as for their families. This is definitely the theme of three recent books: The First Phone Call From Heaven by Mitch Albom, The Trident: The Forging and Reforging of a Navy Seal by Jason Redman, and American Heroes: On The Homefront: The Hearts Of Heroes by Oliver North with Bob Hamer. Throughout these books, the theme of hope and the belief in G-d is emphasized. American Thinker interviewed the authors about their books... Oliver North's latest book shows...

When Taylor started his company, Novitas, in late 2012, his plan was to work his connections, hire the right people and find something big. The end of the wars and deeper-than-expected federal budget cuts this year were making it harder for start-ups, like Taylor’s, to win government work. But the government was still spending nearly $200 million a day on contracts in the Washington area. Most people didn’t have the connections or insider knowledge to get at this money. Taylor was one of the few who did.

<p>Editor's note: Rebekah Sanderlin is an Army wife, Military Spouse of the Year finalist, and a writer who focuses on military issues. She, her husband and their three children are stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. She is an advisory board member of the Military Family Advisory Network.</p>

December 11, 2013, 05:36 pm Veterans groups angry over budget deal By Jeremy Herb Veterans groups are lashing out at the congressional budget deal for targeting military retirement accounts to help pay for spending increases. The Military Coalition, a group of 33 uniformed services and veterans organizations, is sent a letter to House and Senate leaders, as well as President Obama and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, expressing their anger with the deal. “This radical proposal basically kills the grandfather-concern addressed by both Congress and the administration and actually eliminates the appropriate review process failing to consider long-term readiness and retention...

December 12 marks the 28th anniversary of the crash of Arrow Air Flight 1285, carrying 248 Soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 8 crew members, in Gander, Newfoundland. Returning from peacekeeping duties in the Sinai Desert, all were killed. Above, soldiers fasten flags to caskets in Gander. Dec 1985.

In 1945, thousands of soldiers returned to the United States from combat on the Pacific and European fronts of World War II with severe mental trauma. Unable to treat their terrible injuries and illnesses, US Veterans Affairs hospitals lobotomized some 2,000 of them. Wall Street Journal:The Lobotomy Files Part One is telling the story of these soldiers and the misjudged medical process they went through as part of a special project called The Lobotomy Files, the first of which focuses on Roman Tritz. Tritz, a 90-year-old veteran who flew a B-17 Flying Fortress across Nazi Germany, began to hear voices...

This youtube video was so powerful - I have not seen it before, but as a Vet, I think it should be seen by many more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoABty_zE00

Marines from Company C, 1st Tank Battalion, prepare their tank for the day's attack on Range 210 at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton during Steel Knight 13, a combined arms live fire exercise. Dec 2012.U.S. Marine Corps Photo.

MESA, AZ - He served his country in Vietnam and now the community is serving him. A Mesa man says his dog is recovering from a hit-and-run last month. Now, a Valley non-profit is stepping in to help. Stone put together a fundraiser online and Sonny ended up at Dobson Ranch, the only hospital they found that would take payments instead of all the cash up front. "He's a disabled vet and he's done so much for the country already,” said Stone. “And then to see his dog suffering like that since Thanksgiving, he deserved a second chance." A chance...

Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, provides security during a mission in the Zirat Mountain Area, Waza Kwah District, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. July 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jeffrey Alexander.