Stars and Stripes Veterans News

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July 6, 2022 | View in browser

 

WWII veteran, last member of ‘Band of Brothers,’ Bradford Freeman dies at 97 Freeman, the last surviving member of Easy Company, the World War II unit made famous by the “Band of Brothers” book and miniseries, died July 3 at 97. Read more >

‘Astonishing bravery’: Biden awards Medals of Honor to four Army vets for their heroics in Vietnam One soldier led his unit through a deadly ambush in 1968. Another defended a besieged fire base in 1972. A third directed airstrikes after a crash landing in 1971. And a fourth single-handedly cleared a trench of enemy troops in 1966. Read more >

As a soldier, he escaped Nazi captors. At 97, he finally got his medals. As a soldier in World War II, William “Willie” Kellerman was captured three weeks after he took part in the Utah Beach invasion in Normandy. He managed to escape his German captors, hid out with members of the French Resistance and, in a grand stroke of survival, pulled through after being shot in his hand and leg. Read more >   WWII Medal of Honor recipient Hershel ‘Woody’ Williams to lie in state at US Capitol Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II, will lie in honor at the U.S. Capitol. Read more >   Senators kill sweeping plan to reshape sprawling VA health care system A long-sought realignment of the country’s largest health care system for veterans was killed this week by bipartisan political resistance through a short news release from 12 senators. Read more >

Decades after WWII, Chinese-American vet gets Congressional Gold Medal for his Army service More than 75 years after his service in World War II, a 98-year-old Chinese-American veteran in Deerfield Beach received a Congressional Gold Medal to honor his service to the United States. Read more >   ‘Really sickening’: Christian school duped veterans on GI Bill in North Carolina, advocates say A veterans advocacy organization says House of Prayer Christian Church as a whole has defrauded veterans out of at least $7 million over the last two years. Read more >   Seeking the Star: Pennsylvania veteran on mission to honor his brother killed in Vietnam Jenkins Twp., Pa., Air Force veteran Ralph Edwards is determined to see that his brother, who was killed in Vietnam, is posthumously awarded either the Bronze Star or the Silver Star medal. Read more >   Wright-Patterson’s only veteran grave: A Black Civil War soldier buried 134 years ago Pvt. Hiram Honaker was buried in 1888 in what was then a family cemetery in the village of Osborn. Today, the plot is a small patch of grass near the north end of a base runway south of Loop Road, a brief drive from the base’s air traffic control tower. Read more >   Navajo Nation authorized to file benefit claims for veterans The Navajo Nation Veterans Administration is the first tribal nation program to receive accreditation to help veterans submit federal benefits claims directly to the VA. Read more >   ‘I’m losing hope’: A veteran threatened to kill Joe Biden. His family says he’s a casualty of war. There is no evidence that Army veteran Scott Merryman was motivated by political hatred when he trekked a thousand miles to the Washington, vowing to “slay the Anti-Christ,” as he called President Joe Biden on social media. Read more >

 

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