Stars and Stripes Veterans News

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March 23, 2022 | View in browser

 

Spokane VA had problems with its new electronic health records long before its recent system crash, reports reveal The Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Spokane, Wash., had numerous complaints including incorrect patient information and medication orders long before its new electronic health records system crashed three weeks ago and affected services for hundreds of patients, according to three reports released by the VA inspector general. Read more >

He was a congressional candidate in Minnesota. Then he withdrew from politics to go fight in Ukraine. For the past eight months, U.S. Air Force veteran Mark Lindquist has been focused on his campaign for Congress in Minnesota’s largest district. But in recent days, the Democrat has been captivated by another potential calling: “Am I willing to die for Ukraine’s freedom?” Read more >

Following a ‘call to duty,’ Washington Army veteran faces uneasy entry into Ukraine Nearly two decades ago, Carl Larson served in the Army as American troops toppled Saddam Hussein. Now 47, the Snohomish County, Wash., resident is back in a war zone, this time to help the Ukrainian people in their fierce defense against Russian invaders. Read more >   Iraq combat veteran became a counselor after experiencing PTSD. He's headed into Ukraine to help. While in Lviv, Marine veteran Jared Malone hopes to be a face for ongoing fundraising efforts back in the United States. Already he's raised $22,000, with more on the way. Read more >   She joined the only Black female unit sent overseas in WWII. Now 102, she’s the oldest living member. As World War II escalated, Romay Johnson Davis’s five brothers enlisted, despite segregation and profuse discrimination both within the armed forces and society as a whole. Davis yearned to join them. Read more >

Retired Navy photographer aims to capture World War II veterans’ images before they’re lost to history Since 2017, Mickey Strand has shot 106 portraits of World War II veterans. Since then, more than 100 of these men and women have died. Read more >   Navy SEAL veteran, a top Missouri GOP Senate candidate, faces allegations of abuse in child-custody case A charismatic former Navy SEAL officer and Rhodes Scholar who founded a nonprofit benefiting veterans, Eric Greitens was a rising GOP star after he won the 2016 governor’s race in Missouri. Greitens resigned in 2018 after a sex scandal. Now his ex-wife is accusing him of abuse in a child-custody case. Read more >   Family receives medals earned by Kentucky WWI hero Jerry "Butch" Parks starts to choke up when talking about his grandfather, Abraham Smith. Smith, a private first class in the U.S. Army, had fought valiantly for his country in World War I, earning numerous awards. And Smith never received any of them by the time he passed away in 1969. That was by his choice. Read more >   ‘Just despicable’: Arson suspected in damage to Calif. city’s veterans memorial Local and county officials have started an arson investigation after a fire broke out early Saturday morning at a veterans memorial in Moreno Valley, Calif. Read more >   Burial equity for NH National Guard, Reserves now the law of the land Until now, state veterans cemeteries were only allowed to inter Guard members and Reservists called to active duty. Read more >   French government to honor Minnesota World War II veteran Arnold J. “Buck” Zahratka’s war medals and wedding pictures are displayed throughout his Montgomery, Minn., apartment. On Wednesday, the 96-year-old World War II vet will be honored by the French government as a member of its National Order of the Legion of Honor. Read more >

 

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