Iraq veterans

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Colin Powell Gets a Flat, and a Surprise Helper

Veteran Anthony Maggert, who lost his leg in Afghanistan, was happy to help

(Newser) - Both Anthony Maggert and Colin Powell got a bit of a surprise Wednesday—Maggert, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, by seeing Powell stranded on the side of the road with a flat, and Powell by seeing Maggert, who lost his leg while in Afghanistan, pulling over to help him, reports...

Senator Who Lost Legs in War Slams 'Draft-Dodger' Trump

Duckworth has message for 'Cadet Bone Spurs'

(Newser) - A Democratic senator who lost both legs while serving in the Iraq War says she isn't going to let a "draft-dodging" president lecture her on what the military needs. Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a retired US Army lieutenant colonel, slammed President Trump as "Cadet Bone Spurs" in...

You Can Make Dying Army Vet's Wish Come True

Iraq veteran Lee Hernandez is taking phone calls from strangers

(Newser) - The wife of a military veteran suffering from a terminal illness is soliciting calls from strangers to brighten her husband's last days. Lee Hernandez, an 18-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, is dying of an undiagnosed medical condition in hospice care at his home in New Braunfels, Texas,...

Purple Heart Fraudster Gets 3 Years in Prison

He scammed $650K in benefits

(Newser) - A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a former soldier who lied his way to a Purple Heart to three years in prison and ordered him to repay nearly $650,000 in stolen government benefits. Darryl Wright, 48, a former Idaho National Guardsman, feigned injuries from an explosion in Iraq in...

Firefighter 'Cut Down' While Collecting for Charity

Driver deliberately hit Dennis Rodeman after altercation: cops

(Newser) - Police in Michigan have arrested the driver of a pickup truck who they believe intentionally struck a firefighter standing in a roadway collecting money for charity, killing him. Dennis Rodeman, a seven-year veteran of the Lansing Fire Department who also served in the US Marines in Iraq, was struck about...

Government Trying to Fix Our Memories

Pentagon invests $40M in research into implants

(Newser) - It sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick: Direct brain recording, a shorthand for probing the brain to listen to its chatter. But the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is dedicating $40 million to this high-tech field to help the estimated 270,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war...

Fort Hood Shooter Was Troubled Iraq Vet
'Heroic' Female Cop
Stopped Fort Hood Shooter
UPDATED

'Heroic' Female Cop Stopped Fort Hood Shooter

Ivan Lopez was being assessed for PTSD

(Newser) - The man who shot three people dead at Fort Hood military base before killing himself has been identified as Army Spec. Ivan Lopez, a military truck driver who was being evaluated for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Texas base's commander says the 34-year-old, who served in Iraq for four months...

Sniper Suspect Had 2 Stays in Mental Hospital

After shootings, Routh said he 'traded his soul for a new truck'

(Newser) - Eddie Ray Routh was taken to a mental hospital twice in the five months before he was accused in the murder of American Sniper author Chris Kyle and a friend, according to police records seen by the AP . The 25-year-old Iraq veteran was first hospitalized after threatening to kill his...

Broke Army Vet Sells Medal on eBay

Bill Shephard takes heat from sergeant upset by sale

(Newser) - An out-of-work veteran has found an enterprising means of supporting his family and starting a new business: selling his Army medal. It went for $5,200 on eBay today, skyrocketing from $2,000 a few hours earlier, My Fox Washington reports. "When i saw the amount that was posted...

45% of New Vets File for Disability
 45% of New Vets 
 File for Disability 
Memorial Day Investigation

45% of New Vets File for Disability

That's a huge jump from post-Gulf War numbers

(Newser) - American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are filing for disability benefits at a rate never seen before, causing many to worry about the physical and mental health of a generation of troops, reports the AP . Of the 1.6 million veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan,...

First-Ever Jail Opens Just for Veterans

Georgia sheriff says program cuts down on recidivism

(Newser) - In one Georgia county jail, military veterans will receive a special kind of treatment. The sheriff of Muscogee County says he's opening the first-ever jail dorm exclusively for veterans, where programs are designed to keep them from breaking the law once they're out, Fox News reports. "When...

Homeless Killer Suspect Accused of 2 More Murders

Itzcoatl Ocampo to be charged with stabbing Raquel Estrada, Juan Herrera

(Newser) - Authorities believe Itzcoatl Ocampo, the 23-year-old Iraq veteran charged with stabbing four homeless men to death in California, also killed two other people—ones that he knew. Ocampo will be charged today with the murders of Raquel Estrada, 53, and her 34-year-old son, Juan Herrera, the mother and brother of...

Suspect in Homeless Killings Is Iraq War Vet

Calif. man talked of hallucinations

(Newser) - A suspect detained for killing homeless people in Southern California is a mentally unstable Iraq war veteran who complained of hallucinations, the Los Angeles Times reports. When Itzcoatl Ocampo returned from service in 2010, "he was sick," his uncle says. But Ocampo never went to therapy appointments made...

Second Iraq Vet Hurt in Oakland Protests

Ranger suffers lacerated spleen during Wednesday's violence

(Newser) - Another Iraq war veteran has been injured in clashes between police and protesters in Oakland, reports the Guardian . One week after Scott Olsen suffered a fractured skull , Kayvan Sabeghi was hospitalized with a lacerated spleen, which he says was caused by being hit with police batons Wednesday night. "There...

Occupy Oakland: Police Face Probe Over Wounding of Iraq War Vet Scott Olsen
 Oakland Cops 
 Face Inquiry Over 
 Wounded Iraq Vet 
big strike tomorrow

Oakland Cops Face Inquiry Over Wounded Iraq Vet

City prepares for general strike

(Newser) - A city panel is launching a formal investigation into Oakland police following the wounding of an Iraq veteran in last week’s clash with Occupy Oakland protesters . The inquiry, sparked by a complaint to the Citizens’ Police Review Board, is due to begin within days and run “several months,...

Iraq Vet Wounded in Occupy Protest Wakes Up

Occupy protests around the country hold candlelight vigils for Scott Olsen

(Newser) - Scott Olsen, the 24-year-old Iraq war veteran who suffered a fractured skull when police raided the Occupy Oakland camp on Tuesday, is awake and lucid, and doctors have upgraded his condition from critical to fair, Reuters reports. “He’s able to understand what’s going on,” a hospital...

Just 1 in 3 Vets Say Iraq, Afghanistan Wars 'Worth It'

Another 1 in 3 disagree: Pew Research Center poll

(Newser) - Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan; with an eye on the decade-long effort, the Pew Research Center asks veterans: Were the Afghanistan and Iraq wars worth it? Just 34% of post-Sept. 11 veterans say yes, while another 33% say no (Afghanistan is considered slightly more...

Friend of Amputee: 'He Went Out With a Smile'

Funeral takes place for Iraqi vet killed on coaster

(Newser) - With his iron will to make the most of life without legs, James Hackemer would set off turkey-hunting in an all-terrain wheelchair or toil for hours atop a lawn tractor at the 40-acre family farm in southwestern New York. "He had a thirst for life and wanted to do...

Park Won't Face Charges in Amputee's Coaster Death

Darien Lake violated its own policy

(Newser) - A double-amputee Iraq War veteran who was hurled off a towering roller coaster to his death never should have been allowed on the ride, but the New York park's operators will face no criminal charges despite violating their own policy, authorities said today. Signs at the Ride of Steel...

Amputee Vet Killed in Coaster Accident

James Hackemer was thrown from ride

(Newser) - Rough story from the Darien Lake amusement park in upstate New York: A 29-year-old man who lost both legs in the Iraqi war is dead after falling out of a 200-foot-high roller coaster. James Hackemer lost his limbs to a roadside bomb in 2008 and just barely survived. "We...

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