COVID-19 has caused a "tremendous rip through the heart" of the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, Gov. Charlie Baker said in an online video Memorial Day observance for state-run nursing home Friday evening.

First person perspective

While it is important and appropriate to honor those whose service led to the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, it is especially painful for those of us who returned from combat when our brothers and sisters did not.

It is an unusual year. Parades will not be held, and people will not be able to gather to hear speeches and watch traditional ceremonies. What will happen instead is being called a virtual Memorial Day.

The coronavirus pandemic has transformed nearly facet of daily life. Now that includes Memorial Day events and traditions, as social distancing, closures and restrictions have disrupted the rituals of grief for those who have died in uniform.

President Donald Trump on Friday turned an early Memorial Day remembrance of fallen U.S. service members into a quasi reelection campaign rally with bikers on the White House lawn.

South Korea will provide masks and hand sanitizer to help Navajo veterans of the Korean War fight the coronavirus.

Maine Gravesite Maintenance, a company hired to clean the grave marker of Delta Force Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, was able to remove the paint Thursday, at no charge, after having a special solution delivered overnight.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to be a deadly force in the United States, paralyzed veterans are struggling to meet their basic needs, such as buying groceries, according to Paralyzed Veterans of America.

About 28% of veterans who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11% of those getting routine care alone.

At 22, huddling close to fellow soldiers for warmth saved Bernard Mayrsohn’s life. At 96, keeping away from people is doing the same.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing back against a recent report that says veterans who served on Guam between 1962 and 1975 were likely exposed to Agent Orange.

A photographer visited homes of 12 families of people who died at a veteran's home that was hit hard by the coronavirus.

Ronald Shurer, a former Green Beret who later worked for the U.S. Secret Service, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2017 and had chronicled his treatment and hospitalization on Instagram.

Retired Navy pilot Fernando Vizcarrondo was groggy when he came out of a three-week medically induced coma. And when a nurse turned on the TV in his room, he became even more puzzled. The whole word had changed while he was in his coma, connected to a ventilator that breathed for him when he couldn't do it himself.

After learning Memorial Day flag placements were suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, a local veteran took it upon himself to ensure American flags fly over the more than 38,000 veteran graves at Fort Custer National Cemetery on Monday.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said headstones of German POWs should be removed because their swastika symbols are “a stain on the hallowed ground where so many veterans and their families are laid to rest.”

Last month, the VA ended a decades-old practice of allowing veterans service representatives to review benefits decisions for accuracy before those decisions are finalized and sent to veterans.

Veterans who served on Guam between 1962 and 1975 may have valid claims to service-related disabilities as a result of exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides, according to a recent report.

Congressman Brian Mast on Tuesday criticized a decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs secretary to restrict public ceremonies at national cemeteries during Memorial Day weekend.

About 3.5 million veterans and service members are believed to have been exposed to toxins from burn pits on bases primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to VA estimates.

The Department of Veterans Affairs defended its position, stating “the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 assigns stewardship responsibilities to federal agencies...to protect historic resources, including those that recognize divisive historical figures or events.”

Mickey Nelson is going to walk 100 miles by the end of summer through his hometown of Clarks Grove — just north of Albert Lea — in what he has dubbed, “Walking to 100,” because not only will he walk 100 miles, but he also will celebrate his 100th birthday next month.

Obituary

Jerzy Główczewski, a Polish-born fighter pilot who flew World War II missions with Britain's Royal Air Force after Nazi Germany invaded his country, and who later was an architect in Poland and the United States, has died in New York City. He was 97.

Green Beret medic and Medal of Honor recipient Ronald Shurer was remembered Friday by Afghans who fought alongside him as a brave soldier who helped to establish Afghanistan’s special operations units.

Obituary

Fred Willard was an improv comedy master whose star shone brightest in the satire of writer-director Christopher Guest, playing a goofball so straight it wasn’t always clear he was in on the joke.

The number of known deaths from the coronavirus among Department of Veterans Affairs patients exceeded 1,000 on Monday.

Jesse Freitas Sr., a quarterback on the inaugural San Francisco 49ers squad and a World War II veteran, was 99.

Obituary

William J. Keating, who spent three decades as an Ohio newspaper executive after leaving Congress in the mid-1970s, has died, his family confirmed. He was 93.

HomeSnacks is looking to hire a veteran to watch 18 hours and 36 minutes of military-themed movies. Once chosen, all you have to do is watch the movies and write a 1,000 word summary of what you learned about U.S. military history.

Breath and blood tests confirmed that John James Hamm was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash that killed Giovanni “John” Spadafora, according to police.

With a backlog of military honors to be rendered once burial restrictions are lifted, the Department of Veterans Affairs has created an online Roll of Honor naming veterans interred nationwide beginning April 13.

The people who want to add the names of those killed on the USS Frank E. Evans to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington keep running into a different kind of wall: Congress.

Faced with too few nurses at the beginning of a coronavirus outbreak, managers at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke merged units and even moved nine patient beds to the dining room, according to a study examining how the staff shortage contributed to scores of infections and 74 deaths at the state-run nursing facility.

After weeks of supply shortages and staffing concerns, the Department of Veterans Affairs said it has obtained millions of respiratory masks and hired thousands of employees in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Described as a "silent warrior" by his friends and family, Hilton Carter's exploits as a military veteran, pioneering Tuskegee Airman and public servant were matched, and perhaps surpassed, by his legacy as a father, grandfather, husband and friend.

A fledgling nonprofit dedicated to helping military veterans find work in the news media is moving forward with plans for a July career fair despite mounting odds in a coronavirus economy.

Among hundreds of photos of veterans and active duty service members hanging on the wall, Brenda Rosa knows right where to find her son, disabled U.S. Army veteran Kenneth L. Rosa, and her daughter, Yailaris Garcia, who is on active duty with the U.S. Air Force.

Edward Manthey lived through the Great Depression, World War II, the polio epidemic and other major crises, but he can’t remember anything quite like the coronavirus. “It’s really devastating,” he said by phone Tuesday from his Millstadt apartment.

Residents of San Diego County's only state veterans home are living under new constraints, as officials work to keep the coronavirus outside the facility's walls. So far, its director says, that's working.

On Tuesday morning, there was a parade at the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center where dozens of veterans lined the sidewalk outside the Community Living Center. A long line of cars drove through, waving, and shouting to their loved ones.

“3M peddled these earplugs to the public and the United States military despite knowing they were dangerous and defective, perpetrating an ongoing fraud on our country and its citizens,” the plaintiffs’ lead counsel said in a statement.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America took issue with the Department of Veterans Affairs doling out an unproven treatment for the coronavirus after a study was published this week that determined the drug had no benefit.

National cemeteries will open from dawn to dusk on Memorial Day, but the usual events to honor deceased service members will be brief and closed to the public.

An investigation by McClatchy last fall found that the rate of treatment at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for various types of cancers — especially among pilots — across the services had skyrocketed over the last two decades.

The shuttering of the veterans home at Barstow, Calif., is part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's fiscal blueprint meant to alleviate the financial hit California has taken amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Jonathan Yates, 51, received a seven-count indictment from a federal grand jury Tuesday on charges that he sexually assaulted veterans who sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain and anxiety, according to the Justice Department.

Retired Gen. Frederick Kroesen fought in Korea and Vietnam, and served as Army vice chief of staff during his 40-year career. He died at the age of 97.

The Honor Flight Network, which sends veterans to tour the war memorials in Washington, D.C., said Thursday that it would cancel trips to the nation’s capital through the end of August.

The retirement savings program for federal and military personnel is preparing to more than double the number of countries represented in its investment fund that tracks international stock markets. One of the countries to be added is China — and that's a problem for some people.

Earlier this year, the Tonic family planned to gather in the District of Columbia for a reunion. It was an event planned for dozens of people from branches of the family living as far away as New Jersey, Atlanta and Florida.

The federal government has agreed to pay more than $1 million total to five veterans who alleged mistreatment of foot and ankle problems at the Togus Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Maine.

Dodging bombs and bullets and surrounded by German soldiers, U.S. Army Pvt. Daniel Zane, then 19, bolted 80 yards through an open field on March 2, 1945, to help a hurt soldier. A long lifetime later, 94-year-old Zane did not want his wife of 71 years to die alone at the end of her struggle with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

Mike Garcia, a former Navy combat pilot, had a 12-point edge over Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith in Tuesday's special election for the swing 25th District.

At least 90 residents of Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City have tested positive for COVID-19, and 22 have died, according to Bob Horton, spokesman for the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs. Almost 40 employees also caught the virus, which has been particularly deadly for residents of nursing homes.

Navy veterans Daniel R. Kramer, 103, and Thomas Berg, 98, survived the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 while aboard battleships. Both men passed away in recent days.

The U.S. State Department was ordered by a federal court of appeals to reconsider its decision of denying a passport to Navy veteran Dana Zzyym.

Until the coronavirus pandemic shut down business, this World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor was a thrice-a-week visitor to the Allentown YMCA and an organizer of occasional bus trips to casinos and destinations across the country.

An honorably discharged Army veteran claims in a lawsuit that a gym franchise in Toledo discriminated against him when it didn’t rehire him after he was injured during a deployment.

A native of New Orleans who was born on June 30, 1928, Carter enlisted in the Army and was in the Air Corps, the precursor of the Air Force. He was among this nation's first black airmen.

A new law will restore GI Bill benefits to veterans whose campuses closed or who were forced to withdraw from classes because of the virus.

The VA is ending a decades-old practice of allowing veterans service representatives to review benefits decisions for accuracy before those decisions are finalized and sent to veterans.

Arthur “Mac” McIntosh is looking forward to his 101st birthday this week after overcoming a case of COVID-19, the respiratory disease associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

As of Wednesday, 5,185 veterans and 760 VA employees were in recovery from the virus — about 65% of the department’s nearly 10,000 cases. Thousands of veterans remain hospitalized with the virus.

About 28% of Department of Veterans Affairs patients who received hydroxychloroquine died, compared with 11% of patients who received standard care.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said stimulus checks will be sent automatically to veterans who receive VA benefits but don’t typically file tax returns. However, those veterans need to fill out an online form to get additional money for dependents.

Most years, a crowd of more than 60 volunteers — veterans, Boy Scouts and church members — spend the weekend before Memorial Day decorating military graves across the Windber area. But COVID-19 restrictions are forcing the tradition — as well as Windber’s annual Memorial Day ceremony — to be far less public.

Nurses at the VA hospital in Atlanta say the rationing of personal protective equipment is creating a dangerous environment for medical workers.

Now approaching 102, Robert A. “Bob” Whittaker has many memories of working on the family farm, becoming a Marine during World War II and seeing the Enola Gay, the bomber that helped hasten the war’s end by dropping the first atomic bomb onto Japan.

The numbers provide only a snapshot of cases and deaths among veterans. The VA’s tally does not include veterans who are not enrolled in the VA system or veterans who were treated at community hospitals, rather than VA facilities.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday announced a manslaughter warrant against Joshua Stewart Burks, 35. He is charged in Friday’s death of Troy Ellis of Trussville.

Veterans who were active military in posts around the world 50 years ago recall that when they heard about the Kent State shootings there was, among those in their unit, confusion and disbelief that American soldiers had fired upon citizens.

The Kahn twins were born into a world still torn by the flu pandemic in December 1919. Samuel died of influenza just weeks later. Philip survived until the coronavirus pandemic.

Vietnam War veterans Michael Jacobson and Patrick Clark first met while on a special operations mission in Cambodia in 1976. When the mission had to be abandoned suddenly, the Army split them up so no one involved could communicate about what happened.

Dr. Vito Imbasciani, secretary of California’s Department of Veterans Affairs, has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn’t walk for two months.

World War II veteran William Logue died Monday afternoon, and on Thursday, his family made a way to honor both social distancing and the man they called Papa Bill.

Victor Barnaby wanted to live to celebrate his 77th wedding anniversary, his family said. And just hours afterward, he died at age 96.

Members of the Patriot Guard Riders paid tribute May 3 to 101-year-old World War II veteran and oldest living sentinel for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Jack Eaton, who recently suffered a back injury and is awaiting surgery.

Capt. Tom Moore, a British army veteran who shuffled the length of his garden 100 times and walked away with the hearts of a nation, celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday, having raised some 37 million for the National Health Service.

It’s uncertain how many homeless veterans have contracted coronavirus or died from it. The VA doesn’t include demographic information in its online data, and the VA’s death toll includes only those who were treated at VA facilities.