Latest Veterans News

Debate-watchers in the Biden and Trump camps seem to agree on something: Biden had a bad night

Jun. 28, 2024 05:05 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Oh, Joe." That gasp, from patrons at a Chicago bar when President Joe Biden first stumbled verbally in his debate with Donald Trump, spoke for a lot of Americans on Thursday night. In watch parties, bars, a bowling alley and other venues where...

How troops convicted under a gay sex ban can apply for a pardon from Biden. Will benefits follow?

Jun. 26, 2024 15:24 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that troops who were convicted under an old military policy criminalizing consensual gay sex would receive full pardons — a move that could restore their discharges from military service to an honorable status and pave the way for...

A US veteran died at a nursing home, abandoned. Hundreds of strangers came to say goodbye

Jun. 20, 2024 20:26 PM EDT

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Former U.S. Marine Gerry Brooks died alone at a nursing home in Maine, abandoned and all but forgotten. Then the funeral home posted a notice asking if anyone would serve as a pallbearer or simply attend his burial. Within minutes, it was turning away...

A World War II veteran just married his bride near Normandy's D-Day beaches. He's 100, she's 96

Jun. 08, 2024 16:28 PM EDT

CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France (AP) — Together, the collective age of the bride and groom was nearly 200. But World War II veteran Harold Terens and his sweetheart Jeanne Swerlin proved that love is eternal as they tied the knot Saturday inland of the D-Day beaches in Normandy, France. ...

Members of Congress commemorate D-Day with their own parachute jump over Normandy

Jun. 07, 2024 14:16 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A contingent of U.S. lawmakers from the House of Representatives made a commemorative parachute jump Friday at Normandy marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the historic assault that launched the end of World War II. Organized by Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., and...

At D-Day ceremony, American veteran hugs Ukraine's Zelenskyy and calls him a savior

Jun. 07, 2024 06:24 AM EDT

OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — An American veteran and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an emotional moment at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in World War II, each praising the other as a hero. Retired Staff Sgt....

A 102-year-old World War II veteran dies en route to D-Day commemorations in Europe and is mourned

Jun. 06, 2024 20:16 PM EDT

A World War II Navy veteran was being mourned Thursday following his death while en route to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a trip friends said he'd talked excitedly about making. Robert “Al” Persichitti of Fairport, New York fell ill during a stop in...

D-Day anniversary haunted by dwindling number of veterans and shadowed by Europe's new war

Jun. 06, 2024 20:15 PM EDT

OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — As young soldiers, they waded through breaking waves and gunfire to battle the Nazis. Now bent with age, the dwindling number of World War II veterans joined a new generation of leaders on Thursday to honor the dead, the living and the fight for democracy on the shores...

A new Nebraska law makes court diversion program available to veterans. Other states could follow

Jun. 06, 2024 18:13 PM EDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Facing his fifth drunk driving offense in 25 years, Robert Jackson of Olathe, Kansas, was given a choice: go to court and take a possible jail sentence, or commit to a diversion program that keeps military veterans out of jail. Jackson didn't hesitate to take the...

AP PHOTOS: A look at the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy

Jun. 06, 2024 17:29 PM EDT

Veterans from the U.S., Britain and Canada, more than two dozen heads of state and countless others took to the beaches of Normandy and elsewhere this week to mark the 80th anniversary of the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied France. In Sannerville, Normandy, spectators...