The Impact of War

Kevin and Joyce Lucey remembered their son, Jeff, in an interview with StoryCorps in Wellesley, Mass. Jeff, a U.S. Marine, took his own life months after returning from a deployment in Iraq.

Nightmares And Darkness Follow Marine Home From Iraq War

10:45am September 15, 2014

by NPR Staff

Jeff Lucey deployed to Iraq with the Marines in 2003. He returned home later that year, and initially, all seemed well. But it slowly became apparent that Lucey was struggling with invisible wounds.

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VA Deputy Secretary On Wait Times: 'We Owe The American People An Apology'

8:07pm August 26, 2014

Melissa Block talks with Sloan Gibson, the deputy secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, about the results of a recent probe into wait times at VA facilities.

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VA's Inspector General Finds Faked Data At Hospitals Across U.S.

8:07pm August 26, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

President Obama addressed the annual convention of the American Legion in North Carolina with a raft of new proposals for vets.

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Mark Pierce enlisted in the military in 1970, served in Vietnam and retired in 2010. Years later, his two sons also joined the armed forces.

National

From A Father And Son, What It Means To Be A Military Man

10:13am August 21, 2014

by NPR Staff

Enlisting has been a rite of passage for men in the Pierce family since the Civil War. And as America has changed, Mark Pierce and his son Jeremy explain, what it means to serve has, too.

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After 5 Weeks Of Haggling, Congress Inks Bipartisan VA Bill

7:40pm July 28, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

Congress has reached a bipartisan deal to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs, after nearly two months of tense negotiations.

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National

In Bloody Battle, Medal Of Honor Recipient Held His Post Alone

6:35pm July 21, 2014

by Tom Bowman

President Obama presents the Medal of Honor to former Sergeant Ryan Pitts. It's the nation's highest medal for valor. Pitts single-handedly fought off a Taliban assault in Afghanistan back in 2008.

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Bryan McDonel and his father, Mike, both served multiple tours in Iraq with the National Guard. Bryan was first prescribed painkillers before his deployment, and his dependence on medication prompted a downward spiral.

A Growing Number Of Veterans Struggles To Quit Powerful Painkillers

3:31pm July 16, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

Service members are prescribed narcotic painkillers three times as often as civilians. For some vets, dependence on those pills becomes a bigger problem than their original ailment.

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Many servicemen and women are prescribed a mountain of pills for PTSD, pain and other conditions. But some don't want to be on those meds, so they stop taking them — against doctors' orders.

Veterans Kick The Prescription Pill Habit, Against Doctors' Orders

6:28am July 13, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

There's overmedicating and self-medicating, but some vets are "de-medicating." Prescribed multiple drugs to deal with PTSD and pain, they've stopped taking them — without authorization.

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In this image from the June issue of National Geographic, Jose Armenta and his wife, Eliana, relax with their Boston terriers Oreo and Sassy, and Zenit, a German shepherd they adopted from the Marines.

National

Civilian Life Taught This Military Dog Some New Tricks

4:59pm May 22, 2014

As a bomb-detecting dog, Zenit the German shepherd never chased his tail or dug holes. Those are skills he learned after he was adopted by his former professional partner, Cpl. Jose Armenta.

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On Hill, VA Chief Shinseki Faces Hospital Death Allegations

8:18pm May 15, 2014

by Quil Lawrence

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before a Senate committee Thursday, responding to allegations that dozens of veterans died during a long wait for medical treatment in the U.S.

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