Stars and Stripes Veterans News

View in browser October 6, 2021   Former VA secretaries urge Congress to designate day for helping veterans at risk for suicide A resolution asks Americans — particularly active-duty service members and military retirees — to contact a veteran or service member and help connect them to support systems if they need them. READ MORE VA resumes debt collections after 18-month pause due to the coronavirus pandemic About 2 million veterans owe debts to the VA. The department sent letters to the veterans notifying them that payments would now come due. READ MORE Army veteran awarded $8.2 million in fourth trial over 3M earplugs It is the fourth trial against Minnesota-based company 3M related to earplugs that it sold to the military. Those earplugs were used during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 250,000 cases have been filed against the company. READ MORE   Blind former combat medic gives running a try The sound of Angus Kola’s feet striking the pavement as he runs helps remind the blind former combat medic he can achieve anything. READ MORE   Veterans not forgotten: Remains of unclaimed war vets buried in Connecticut state cemetery Connecticut Veterans Affairs Commissioner Thomas J. Saadi read the names Friday of eight men who served in World War I through Vietnam and were either forgotten by their families or died alone with no loved ones around. READ MORE ‘One of a kind’: Nevada National Guard general memorialized Inside a small office building at the Nevada Army National Guard, several military medals and trophies were on display along with vibrant Hawaiian shirts, a lei and a pristine, classic Chevrolet pickup truck. That’s just the kind of person Maj. Gen. Robert Herbert was. READ MORE   ‘Ultimate sacrifice’: South Korean military academy honors West Point grads killed in Korean War The Korea Military Academy, about seven miles from Seoul, was established in 1946, one year before the 12 cadets graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. READ MORE   Emil Kapaun, Medal of Honor recipient and priest considered for sainthood, is buried in Wichita Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain, was captured in 1950 near Unsan, North Korea, while tending to fellow soldiers. He died in May 1951 at the POW camp while continuing to minister to fellow prisoners. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2013. READ MORE   Senators pursue bill to connect veterans with VA within 7 days of leaving service Research has shown the suicide risk for veterans increases dramatically during the first three months of separation from the military. READ MORE   ‘Memories come back’ for Landing Craft Support veterans at WWII event on Mare Island Decades may have gone by since World War II, but those who gave their life in in the war — especially those that fought on a Landing Craft Support — were honored and remembered Wednesday afternoon in a memorial service on Mare Island in front of the USS LCS-102. READ MORE   ‘What they have given ... is immeasurable’: Aberdeen Proving Ground honors Gold Star families Aberdeen Proving Ground leadership, local leaders and others gathered Friday at the base’s memorial plaza to honor Gold Star families, whose loved ones died in military service, and commemorate a Bel Air native with a memorial stone placed in his honor. READ MORE   © 2021 Stars and Stripes · 633 3rd St. NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20001-3050 VISIT STRIPES.COM