Quil Lawrence

For Ailing Vets In Rural Areas, Tele-Medicine Can Be The Cure

Quil Lawrence — Wed, 29 May 2013 06:53:00 +0000

Howard Lincoln of White Mountain, Alaska, doesn't always hear it when people knock on his door. He's 82 and he still has a little shrapnel in his jaw from a mortar shell that nearly killed him in the Korean War 60 years ago.

"We heard it whistling, but I was the third one in line running toward the bunker," he recalls.

Wounds to his face, arm and hip laid him up in a Tokyo hospital for quite a while.

Forgotten For Decades, WWII Alaskans Finally Get Their Due

Quil Lawrence — Tue, 28 May 2013 21:15:00 +0000

Alaskan Clyde Iyatunguk grew up hearing stories about the U.S. Army colonel, Marvin 'Muktuk' Marston, who helped his father trade his spear for a rifle, to protect his homeland during World War II.

Marston is a household name with Native Alaskans.

Searching For Veterans On Alaska's Remote Edges

Quil Lawrence — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:44:00 +0000

When he was in Vietnam, Isaac Oxereok's small build made him ideal for tunnel-ratting: running with a pistol and a flashlight into underground passages built by the Viet Cong. In 1967 he finished his tour with the Army and returned home to Wales, Alaska. Oxereok knew he wasn't quite right, but there wasn't anyone around to tell him how to get help.

"Post-traumatic syndrome?" he said. "I went through that I guess, mostly on my own. Some wounds never really show.

Sexual Violence Victims Say Military Justice System Is 'Broken'

Quil Lawrence — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:05:00 +0000

Myla Haider took a roundabout route to becoming an agent in the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, or CID. Wars kept interrupting her training.

"My commander wanted to take me to Iraq as the intelligence analyst for the battalion, so I gave up my seat in CID school," Haider says.

She speaks in a steady, "just the facts ma'am" tone. Once a cop always a cop, the 37-year-old says.

Her commander from the 101st Airborne, retired Lt. Col. Marty Herbert, describes Haider as a sharp, even-keeled analyst, standing out in a battalion of hundreds.

Off The Battlefield, Military Women Face Risks From Male Troops

Quil Lawrence — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 07:08:00 +0000

Dora Hernandez gave a decade of her life to the U.S. Navy and the Army National Guard, but some of the dangers surprised her.

"The worst thing for me is that you don't have to worry about the enemy, you have to worry about your own soldiers," she says.

Sitting in a circle, a group of women nod in agreement. All are veterans, most have spent time in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they're also survivors of another war.

Women In Combat, And The Price They Pay

Quil Lawrence — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:23:00 +0000

America has been debating the role of women in combat since 1779.

That's when the Continental Congress first awarded a military disability pension to Mary Corbin after she manned a cannon in the Revolutionary War at the battle of Fort Washington in New York. Corbin got only half the pension male soldiers received, but she asked for — and received — the full ration of rum.

Today, as the Pentagon decides how to remove the combat exclusion, women still have trouble getting fully recognized for what they've achieved at war.

"Are women in combat?" asks Staff Sgt. Jessica Keown.

Female Soldiers Face Tough Switch From Front Lines To Homefront

Quil Lawrence — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 09:52:00 +0000

In a series of reports this week, NPR's Quil Lawrence looks at some of the most pressing challenges facing America's nearly 2 million female veterans. Like men, they often need assistance in finding jobs, dealing with PTSD and reintegrating into their families. And all too often, women say their military experience included sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Alyssa Corcoran experienced combat on her first patrol in Afghanistan.

A Wounded Soldier Stands Tall At Reunion With His Platoon

Quil Lawrence — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:13:00 +0000

U.S. Army Spc. Tyler Jeffries spent most of last year in Afghanistan, on dusty, hot patrols in the villages outside Kandahar. Last fall, on Oct. 6, his tour ended three months early.

"I was clearing an area and I had the metal detector. Then we had word that there was two guys coming toward our position," Jeffries recalled later that month.

Shooting Of 'American Sniper' Raises Questions About PTSD Treatment

Quil Lawrence — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:52:00 +0000

Police in Texas have charged Eddie Ray Routh, a 25-year-old U.S. Marine reservist, with capital murder. Arrest records indicate that Routh had been twice taken to a mental hospital in recent months, and had told police he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

It's not clear whether a doctor had diagnosed Routh with the disorder before he allegedly murdered Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield.

Suicide Hotline Fights To Keep Vets And Troops Alive

Quil Lawrence — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 19:32:00 +0000

At a suicide prevention center in upstate New York, America's troops and veterans are calling in for help.

And that help is needed more than ever. This past year witnessed a terrible death toll from suicide.