LOGO: Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines. A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman. Winner 2013 Webby Awards for Best Political Website
May 21, 2013

 Choose a size
Text Size

Trending:     chris hedges     economy     elizabeth warren     politics     robert scheer
Most Read

Rise Up or Die

Revenge of the Bear: Russia Strikes Back in Syria

Real American Boy: How Our Byzantine Immigration System and Failed Economy May Have Made a Terrorist

Tumblr Is Worth $1.1 Billion to Yahoo for One Reason: You

It's News, Not Espionage

Most Comments
Most Emailed

Reports
 * NEW! * Too Soon to Tell: The Case for Hope, Continued
 * NEW! * Warming Climate Endangers U.K. Farming

Ear to the Ground

A/V Booth

Arts & Culture
Act of Congress
Daily Rituals
The Girls of Atomic City

Digs

Truthdig Bazaar

A Hologram for the King

By Dave Eggers
$25.00

more items

 
Tags

Tag: Veterans

 * NEW! * VA

Share
Posted on May 21, 2013 READ MORE


Rush Limbaugh

George W. Bush Library Dedicated, GOP Pollster Rips Limbaugh, and More

A look at the day’s political happenings, including Barbara Bush’s surprising advice to son Jeb and Congress tries to fix air travel delays caused by the sequester.

Posted on Apr 25, 2013 READ MORE


Sen. Sanders Lays Into Obama for Attacking Social Security

The senator stood before a crowd of retirees, veterans and their supporters Thursday to point out that the president’s proposal for a “Chained CPI” adjustment to the calculation of retirement benefits would wreak destruction on the lives of elderly and disabled Americans.

Posted on Apr 13, 2013 READ MORE



Veterans Turn on Obama, Fox News Reporter May Be Jailed, and More

A look at the day’s political happenings, including the latest Senate Democrat to “evolve” on the issue of gay marriage and a California billionaire looking to become the left’s answer to the Koch brothers.

Posted on Apr 8, 2013 READ MORE


VA Lines

Share
Posted on Apr 4, 2013 READ MORE


Iraq Lesson

Share
Posted on Mar 19, 2013 READ MORE


The Last Letter

A Message to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney From a Dying Veteran

Posted on Mar 18, 2013 READ MORE



Photo by Gage Skidmore (CC-BY-SA)

Raid on $300 Million ‘Charity’ Forces Fla. Lt. Gov. to Resign

Authorities in Florida and five other states carried out a massive raid on a politically well-connected charity that has been called a fraud by the Internal Revenue Service.

Posted on Mar 13, 2013 READ MORE


60,000 Homeless Vets

Share
Posted on Jan 7, 2013 READ MORE


Election Day Duty

Share
Posted on Nov 6, 2012 READ MORE


The Invisible Wounds of War

On the eve of the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, “Democracy Now!” spoke with veterans and an investigative reporter about the conflict’s legacy of mental health crises, soldier suicides and violence upon returning home.

Posted on Oct 5, 2012 READ MORE



Flickr/Donkey Hokey

How You Personally Could Get Screwed by Paul Ryan

Are you poor? Female? A student? A veteran? Planning on growing old? Zach Woods of “The Office”? Well, congratulations! If Mitt Romney is elected president, then you’re definitely going to get screwed by his running mate Paul Ryan! Click below to find out how.

Posted on Aug 13, 2012 READ MORE



The Legend of the Spat-Upon Veteran

Desperate to cobble a pro-war cautionary tale out of a blood-soaked tragedy, we keep reimagining the loss in Vietnam not as a policy failure but as the product of an America that dishonored returning troops.

Posted on May 31, 2012 READ MORE


TV Host Hayes Apologizes for ‘Heroes’ Comments

MSNBC host Chris Hayes apologized for remarks he made on his Memorial Day-themed TV program Sunday, in which he told viewers he felt “uncomfortable” calling fallen soldiers “heroes.”

Posted on May 28, 2012 READ MORE



Photo by davelawrence8

Poll: Majority of Veterans Back Romney

Veterans prefer Mitt Romney over Barack Obama for president in the 2012 election by 58 to 34 percent, according to a Gallup poll released Memorial Day. The survey also showed that non-veterans support Obama over Romney by four percentage points, 48 to 44 percent.

Posted on May 28, 2012 READ MORE



Beverly & Pack (CC BY 2.0)

The Best Stories on How We Treat Our Troops

This Memorial Day, we rounded up some of the best accountability journalism for U.S. soldiers in our recent wars.

Posted on May 28, 2012 READ MORE


Veterans Say No to NATO

Veterans of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan are now challenging the occupation of Chicago.

Posted on May 17, 2012 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS


‘Ex-Sniper’s’ Story Misses the Mark

He called himself an Oakland Occupier and a military vet, and he served up a dramatic first-person story that appeared on Truthdig and elsewhere in the media. But now his mini-essay has been retracted: “Leo Webb” may not exist. (more)

Posted on Jan 31, 2012 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Remembrance

Share
Posted on Nov 13, 2011 READ MORE


Women and PTSD

More and more American women face the trauma of combat, yet post-traumatic stress disorder is often presented as a uniquely male condition. According to this short documentary, the number of women suffering from PTSD symptoms has doubled in the past 10 years.

Posted on Sep 15, 2011 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Welcome Home

Share
Posted on Jan 3, 2011 READ MORE



Center for American Progress Action Fund / UNLV / Geri Kodey (CC-BY-ND)

Senate May Consider Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal

Senate boss Harry Reid, pictured, says that before his majority shrinks, he intends to push ahead with a vote that could potentially allow gays to serve openly in the military. The measure is currently tied to a defense authorization bill that Reid plans to bring up during the lame duck session.

Posted on Nov 18, 2010 READ MORE


Why Did Obama Fire Dan Choi?

“As we mark the end of America’s combat mission in Iraq,” President Barack Obama said this week, “a grateful America must pay tribute to all who served there.” He should have added “unless you’re gay.”

Posted on Aug 3, 2010 READ MORE  |  56 COMMENTS



AP / J. David Ake

Memorial Day and Our Discontents

Why is it that every Memorial Day we note that a holiday set aside for honoring our war dead has become instead an occasion for beach-going, barbecues and baseball?

Posted on May 30, 2010 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS


Political Preschool

In understanding the foibles of politicians, I’ve always found it is a benefit to have spent large amounts of time with toddlers.

Posted on May 20, 2010 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS


John Murtha
house.gov

Rep. John Murtha Dies at 77

After serving almost exactly 36 years in the United States Congress, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania has died. He had been in intensive care following gall bladder surgery. He was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to Congress. (continued)

Posted on Feb 8, 2010 READ MORE  |  7 COMMENTS


Post-9/11 GI Bill
gibill.va.gov

Not All Vets Are Treated Equally Under the Post-9/11 GI Bill

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 was hailed by various media outlets and veterans organizations as the GI Bill of the future. However, through my own experience in dealing with Veterans Affairs regarding the GI Bill, I have found that the help is far less than what we were led to believe.

Posted on Oct 7, 2009 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS



U.S. Air Force / Airman 1st Class Amber Bressler

Veterans Still Waiting for GI Bill Money

It was a nice idea while it lasted: The new GI Bill promised veterans who wanted to go to college money for tuition, books and living expenses. More than 277,000 signed up for the program, which was supposed to kick in Aug. 1. Many are still waiting for their checks.

Posted on Sep 24, 2009 READ MORE  |  8 COMMENTS


American troops in Afghanistan
army.mil

Lesson of Vietnam Lost in Afghanistan

Vietnam’s primary lesson remains intact: American power is not without limits, both in terms of defeating an enemy and in terms of its domestic support. The primary lesson of Vietnam seems to be that it is a lesson lost. And now we have some of the same intractable problems in Afghanistan.

Posted on Aug 20, 2009 READ MORE  |  48 COMMENTS



US Navy / MC1 Tiffini M. Jones

GI Bill Sends Vets Back to School

More than 100,000 veterans have already submitted claims under Sen. Jim Webb’s new GI Bill, which aims to pay for the college tuition, housing and books of students who served in the military after 9/10/2001. That number is expected to hit 500,000 in the program’s first year. (More after jump)

Posted on Aug 3, 2009 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS



Flickr / kikasso

Rabbis Stirred Holy War, Israeli Soldiers Claim

Some Israeli soldiers have accused military rabbis of pushing holy war in Gaza. “This rabbi comes to us and says the fight is between the children of light and the children of darkness,” said a reserve sergeant quoted by the L.A. Times.

Posted on Mar 25, 2009 READ MORE  |  30 COMMENTS


Premature Fretting on the Left

Oh, my: Barack Obama is still more than a month away from assuming the presidency and already there are reports about “the left” being dispirited about change it no longer believes in.

Posted on Dec 11, 2008 READ MORE  |  163 COMMENTS


Obama Embraces the Military

In naming retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as veterans affairs secretary, President-elect Barack Obama made what may be the most politically and morally significant choice of his transition.

Posted on Dec 9, 2008 READ MORE  |  36 COMMENTS


This Is What He’s Sorry About?

It was nothing Bush did—no decision he made, no policy he pursued, no faith that he placed in ideological dogma—that he finds regrettable. Bush told a cable network, “I regret saying some things I shouldn’t have said” over the course of eight tumultuous years.

Posted on Nov 13, 2008 READ MORE  |  24 COMMENTS


No, Thank You

Share
Posted on Nov 11, 2008 READ MORE  |  13 COMMENTS        



AP photo

Investigating John McCain’s Tragedy at Sea

Troubling questions hover over Lt. Cmdr. McCain’s actions in the catastrophic 1967 fire aboard the aircraft carrier Forrestal and the period immediately afterward. His later accounts of events following the accident also raise issues. American voters, after hearing so much from the senator’s campaign about his military record, deserve to know all the facts.

Posted on Oct 7, 2008 READ MORE  |  90 COMMENTS


Pentagon
flickr.com/mindfrieze

The Bailout vs. the Defense Budget

There has been much moaning, air-sucking and outrage about the U.S. government’s $700-billion bailout deal, but in fact we dole out similar amounts of money every year in the form of payoffs to the armed services, the military-industrial complex, and powerful senators and representatives allied with the Pentagon.

Posted on Sep 28, 2008 READ MORE  |  43 COMMENTS


Vet Groups Battle for American Hearts and Minds

There are two major veterans groups trying to make a splash in this year’s election, one conservative and the other broadly liberal. Both, says NPR’s Peter Overby, will attempt to have an impact on the order of the 2004 efforts of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. It sounds like the anti-war group will have the edge this year.

Posted on Jul 7, 2008 READ MORE


Iraq’s Signature Wound

George Ball remembers last July 4 all too well. “I spent it in my room with the windows drawn and the covers over my head,” the 32-year-old Iraq war veteran says. The bottle rockets, with their shrieking whistles followed by the pop of explosions, affected him most.

Posted on Jul 2, 2008 READ MORE  |  6 COMMENTS


In Their Boots

American Vets’ Stories in Their Own Words

The Brave New Foundation is launching an important new project, “In Their Boots,” which gives veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a platform to tell their own stories about serving and sacrifice. Check out American soldiers’ compelling stories in this week’s installment.

Posted on Jul 2, 2008 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


Congress' Backbone
jumpcut.com / anselpixel2

Congress’ Missing Backbone

After doing everything but follow the overwhelming anti-war mandate given by voters in the 2006 congressional elections, the Democratic-controlled Congress accepted a war bill late Thursday that will keep U.S. troops in Iraq until at least Jan. 20.

Posted on Jun 27, 2008 READ MORE  |  21 COMMENTS


Cusack

John Cusack’s McCain/Bush Pop Quiz

Actor John Cusack is ramping up his political presence during this election cycle with his film “War, Inc.” and now this advertisement from MoveOn.org, in which he points out how George W. Bush and John McCain are remarkably similar in some pretty fundamental ways, regardless of McCain’s recent bids to distance himself from the outgoing president.

Posted on Jun 17, 2008 READ MORE


Victims of Military Chemical Tests Demand Answers

According to the Pentagon, the U.S. military carried out tests of chemical and biological agents on 6,440 of its own personnel between 1962 and 1973. One Navy veteran who participated in some of those tests is now pushing for recognition and benefits, having learned that more than half of his fellow seamen are either dead or stricken with cancer or other illnesses.

Posted on Jun 12, 2008 READ MORE  |  1 COMMENT


Bush at Arlington

Bush’s Final Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

President Bush gave his final Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and declaring: “It is a solemn reminder of the cost of freedom that the number of headstones in a place like this grows with every Memorial Day.”

Posted on May 26, 2008 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS


Clintons on Memorial Day
AP photo / Brennan Linsley

Memorial Day: Campaign Trail Edition

Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama observed Memorial Day in Puerto Rico and New Mexico, respectively, paying tribute to U.S. military men and women from the past and the present and making their cases for becoming commander in chief.

Posted on May 26, 2008 READ MORE  |  5 COMMENTS


memorial
Flickr / Kevindooley

The $3-Trillion War

Harvard scholar Linda Bilmes speaks about the book on the Iraq war’s costs that she wrote with Joseph Stiglitz. The two former Truthdiggers of the Week have been working hard to uncover even more hidden expenses for the war, which they estimate will cost the taxpayers and their children trillions of dollars.

Posted on Apr 16, 2008 READ MORE  |  4 COMMENTS


Failing the Troops

The same kinds of mismanagement and dysfunction that are at work in Iraq continue to plague veterans when they seek medical care at home.

Posted on Apr 9, 2008 READ MORE  |  11 COMMENTS


Boom! cover

Fred Branfman on Tom Brokaw’s ‘Boom!’

What kind of look back to the ‘60s manages to almost entirely ignore or miss the point of the Vietnam War?

Posted on Mar 28, 2008 READ MORE  |  33 COMMENTS


Body of War

We just passed the grim milestone of 4,000 U.S. military members killed in Iraq since the invasion five years ago. Still, the death toll climbs.

Posted on Mar 26, 2008 READ MORE  |  18 COMMENTS


Winter Soldier Marches Again

Last weekend, in the lead-up to the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, a remarkable gathering occurred just outside Washington, D.C., called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan, Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations.

Posted on Mar 19, 2008 READ MORE  |  25 COMMENTS


View older articles:  1 2 >

View the most popular tags overall?

Newsletter

sign up to get updates


 
 
 
 
Join the Liberal Blog Advertising Network
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A Progressive Journal of News and Opinion. Editor, Robert Scheer. Publisher, Zuade Kaufman.
© 2013 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.