Veterans News
Military and veterans stories from yesterday's Christian Science Monitor:
Gail Russell Chaddock on A new focus on veterans' benefits
With the Iraq occupation highlighting the devotion of US troops – and the dangers they face – America's war veterans are receiving new attention back home.
From reducing long waits at VA hospitals to easing a century-old tax penalty on the disabled, Congress is moving to address some of the key grievances in the veterans' community.
Mike Revzin on A 'blanket statement' about WWII veterans:
As beach blankets go, it wasn't a good one. It was heavy for an 8-year-old to carry. It wasn't a pretty color. The fabric was rough and itchy on my bare legs when I was wearing my swimsuit.
But when we went to the public beach near Detroit on weekends, that was the blanket we had to take. I wanted a lightweight, colorful beach towel – with pictures of Popeye or the Lone Ranger. I didn't understand why my dad insisted on keeping the ugly green blanket he'd had for more than 15 years.
Raquel Rutledge on Flowers, free airline tickets – support for military families:
When Lisa Lockhart's husband was wounded in an ambush in Iraq in July, her world suddenly turned dark. Doctors gave him only 72 hours to live.
But then help started to come in small and unexpected ways. Her husband's commander here at Fort Carson, Colo., changed a flat tire. He helped get a birth certificate and passport for her weeks-old daughter so she could travel to Germany to be with her father, Sgt. 1st Class Dean Lockhart, for the first time.