All articles tagged with #veterans
Families of US soldiers killed or wounded in the March 1, 2026, Iranian drone strike on Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, face profound personal and bureaucratic challenges. While the Pentagon reports 19 deaths and 861 injuries in the ongoing conflict, survivors and widows describe struggles with grief, disability, and a lack of official transparency regarding the operation's scale and the soldiers' sacrifices.
A new wave of scams uses AI to create fake videos of wounded UK veterans selling patriotic goods. The items are actually cheap products from China, exploiting public sympathy and eroding trust in legitimate veteran charities.
President Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch in Washington, D.C., now includes a 161-foot observation deck and military features, sparking outrage from military families and safety advocates. Critics argue the deck turns solemn funerals at Arlington National Cemetery into a spectacle, while senators warn that drone and sniper placements threaten airspace safety near Reagan National Airport.
A wave of AI-generated 'pity scams' is exploiting social media to sell cheap goods by fabricating stories of injured veterans. British Army veteran Raymond Gilbert lost £154.99 to a TikTok account posing as a disabled ex-soldier, receiving a Chinese-made flag instead of a handmade item. Experts warn these sophisticated videos are increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality, while platforms like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube have removed flagged accounts. Charities fear the scams erode public trust in legitimate veteran support organizations.
Three Vietnam veterans and an architectural historian have asked a federal judge for a temporary restraining order to stop the government from proceeding with a 250-foot ‘Great Triumphal Arch’ at Memorial Circle, arguing it would obstruct the uninterrupted view between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House and dishonor Arlington National Cemetery; the White House says past congressional authorization could grandfather the project, with excavation reportedly slated to begin, while the plaintiffs push the court to decide who should control monument decisions.
Navy veteran David Voight, his wife Amy Voight, and their 13-year-old daughter Mya Jane Voight were found dead from gunshot wounds inside their Boulder Lake home in Lake Murray; a neighbor discovered them after hearing loud bangs, and autopsies will determine causes. Police say there is no ongoing threat to the public. Amy had reportedly taken David to a VA for mental-health services the day before, but the VA says it offers same-day care and could not comment on this case. David’s background includes explosive ordnance disposal, and Amy worked as a NCIS digital forensic examiner. Pershing Middle School provided counselors in response to the tragedy.
New York signed five veterans—Bruce Brown, John Konchar, Ochai Agbaji, Drew Eubanks, and James Wiseman—to Exhibit 9 deals, turning training camp into serious competition for two open spots: a backup center (Eubanks vs Wiseman) and a wing role (Brown vs Konchar vs Agbaji). The article provides brief bios and notes Wiseman’s injury history and potential fit, with Eubanks offering rim protection, Konchar delivering defense and energy, Brown bringing versatility, and Agbaji aiming to stabilize wing depth. The Knicks still have room for two standard contracts and three two-way slots, hinting at additional roster moves to come.
AP reports Moscow is using Ukraine-war veterans as political assets by promoting former servicemen to the State Duma and other posts to attract recruits and showcase a path to power within the ruling elite, a tactic linked to programs like Time of Heroes; while tens of thousands of veterans have returned from Ukraine, only a fraction gain government roles, though Meduza cites about 1,300 veterans in government posts or elected offices as evidence of the broader veteran-politics dynamic.
Army veteran Sean Michael Lee, a 20-year paratrooper who evacuated thousands from war zones and helped rescue Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall in Ukraine, died at 50 from esophageal cancer linked to burn-pit exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, US-led wars have killed an estimated 4.5–4.7 million people and displaced more than 38 million, with Afghanistan and Iraq bearing heavy direct casualties and widespread civilian harm from hunger, disease and unexploded ordnance. Air campaigns and drone strikes have also hit Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and ISIL-held lands. The Costs of War project cites about 176,000 direct deaths in Afghanistan and 315,000 in Iraq, along with hundreds of thousands of indirect deaths; more than 800,000 US troops served in Afghanistan and thousands of coalition casualties occurred. Cumulatively, the US has spent roughly $5.8 trillion on fighting wars, plus about $2.2 trillion for veterans’ care, totaling at least $8 trillion, with interest costs looming by 2030. The piece underscores long-term impacts on veterans’ mental health and ongoing displacement, while noting public support for new interventions remains low and that some leaders continue to push for escalation.
Veterans and Democrats press legal challenges to block Trump’s 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery as site work nears, arguing the project is illegal and would degrade the cemetery experience.
Three Vietnam War veterans urged U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to issue a temporary restraining order blocking work on Trump's proposed 250-foot arch, arguing the project has not been authorized by Congress and is moving forward amid federal reviews; they warn the administration is trying to make the project a fait accompli, referencing a recent Supreme Court ruling on a White House ballroom as precedent for delay in stopping such efforts.
Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood accuses the MoD of a deliberate cover-up, saying it hid medical records of Cold War nuclear-test veterans and misled Parliament about the programme; the MoD counters with a wide records review that produced five published reports and notes chaos from decentralised archives and secrecy. Veterans want access to blood and urine test data to prove health damage from exposure, and some documents may be declassified or released with redactions; about 25,000 people were involved in tests (1952–1967) across Australia and Pacific sites, a cohort whose alleged health problems remain a source of campaigning and calls for transparency.
The Pentagon secretly installed conservative veterans with large online followings in civilian government roles, declined to disclose their assignments, and these influencers have amplified Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s viewpoints while attacking critics, raising questions about transparency and the influence of social-media-savvy figures on defense policy.
A federal grand jury indicted Melissa Farris, 41, for vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., after live-streaming herself dumping soap into the fountain and spraying red and green paint on the granite. She faces two felonies—destruction of a veterans memorial and destruction of government property—with a maximum combined sentence of 10 years, and damages exceed $1,000. The next court hearing is set in D.C.; the incident drew condemnation from Trump and lawmakers, while Farris says she aimed to protest health-care funding issues at a former Kentucky employer.