Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, whose service as a lance corporal and tank crewman included time in Afghanistan, was born in Michigan — so why did the U.S. government threaten to deport him?

The lawsuits said military contractor KBR dumped tires, batteries, medical waste and other materials into open burn pits. The suits claimed the resulting smoke caused neurological problems, cancers and other health issues in more than 800 servicemembers. The complaints said at least 12 servicemembers died.

Military Update

Opt-in rate comparisons across service branches show the singular effectiveness of the Marine Corps’ approach to deepening member interest in the BRS, given that it relies more on youth and vigor, and therefore fewer careerists.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Arnold Austin of Warrior, Ala. was accounted for in September 2018, 77 years after his death on board the USS Oklahoma.

A Navajo Code Talker who used his native language to outsmart the Japanese in World War II has died in New Mexico at age 94.

Obituary

Retired Air Force Col. Joe M. Jackson, a recipient of the Medal of Honor, a veteran of three wars and early U-2 pilot, died Saturday at the age of 95.

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie addressed a group of some 2,000 student veterans Friday to discuss a year filled with VA errors causing incorrect and delayed living stipends for thousands of GI Bill recipients that pushed some of them into financial hardship.

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sent a letter Monday to J. David Cox, the president of the American Federation of Government Employees, calling the notion “preposterous” and harmful to veterans.

The findings follow a prior probe into Former Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin's ethical violations, in which he spent much of a taxpayer-funded trip to Europe sightseeing with his wife.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., filed legislation in their respective chambers to restore Mare Island Naval Cemetery, a San Francisco Bay-area site where 860 servicemembers and veterans were buried between 1858 and 1921.

Purple Heart recipient Duane Sherman, 96, has received notes from elementary school students, prison inmates, the secretary of the Navy and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Army veteran and Florida Rep. Brian Mast tweeted a photo Thursday marking the swearing-in ceremony of fellow wounded veterans and Republican congressmen Jim Baird and Dan Crenshaw.

Video

A new home with specially designed features is being built for Michael Gower and his family through Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds homes for veterans with disabilities to accommodate their needs.

Richard Overton, who died Dec. 27 at age 112, will be laid to rest Saturday at the Texas State Cemetery where he will join the company of other notable figures of American military history.

About 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed since Dec. 22 because of the partial government shutdown — and thousands of them are veterans.

World War II fighter pilot John Lyle died Saturday at his home on Chicago's South Side, his wife, Eunice, said Monday. She added that Lyle had been battling prostate cancer.

Ynez Henningsen said the legalization of medical marijuana is a “big game-changer” for many veterans and other people who otherwise never would have bought marijuana off the street.

Concerned Veterans for America, funded by billionaires Charles and David Koch, has pushed for an aggressive expansion of veterans’ health care into the private sector and a faster process to fire VA workers. Now, they’re concerned the policy initiatives could be undone.

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii, listed criminal justice reform, climate change and health care as issues that she was interested in solving if elected.

Army Special Forces veteran Ezell Finklea, 61, had cooperated with law enforcement, identifying his neighbor as the killer in a 2012 slaying case. On the eve of the trial, Finklea was gunned down.

When Congressman Mark Takano took the stage over the weekend at a student veterans convention in Orlando, Fla., it marked his first public address as chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs — a position that will enable him to set priorities in Congress for veterans for the next two years.

Just days into the new congressional session, some House lawmakers are trying again to secure benefits for thousands of veterans who served on ships off the coast during the Vietnam War – an effort that failed by the time the 115th Congress ended last month.

A retired Marine Corps officer whose career was damaged after his unit was falsely accused in 2007 of war crimes in Afghanistan should have his rank elevated and be awarded back pay for damages, a Navy board has determined.

The Air Force-affiliated program at Enid High School had been jeopardized after both of its instructors quit, prompting the departure of many students.

Next month, representatives from the five military services will come to Tampa for a Defense Department-wide planning conference “so they can see the venues and facilities and start their own preparations as well,” said U.S. Special Operations Command spokesman Army Maj. Anthony Mayne.

Marine veteran Christopher Tur was working as a civilian contractor at Guantanamo Bay when he died. His wife Lara also worked there. Tur's brother Mike hadn't even left the island to accompany his brother's body back to Philadelphia when words alleging his sister-in-law's infidelity swirled through the base.

Maj. Richard Sherman spent 13 months in China as a bombardier and navigator with the 11th Bomb Squadron of the Army's 14th Air Force. He died Wednesday at the age of 96.

Wounded military personnel and their supporters have bicycled across the Seven Mile Bridge and sections of the Florida Keys Overseas Highway during the annual Soldier Ride event from Key Largo to Key West.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Friday in a news release that the remains of Navy Fireman 1st Class Grant Cook, of Cozad, had been accounted for on Aug. 27.

Recent figures show that while there are more than 13,000 congressional staffers on Capitol Hill, a shockingly low percentage of them are veterans. One veterans advocate says he knows why that may be.

Military Update

After passage of the new Blended Retirement System in 2016, officials used computer models to help make predictions critical to planning future military retirement cost obligations. Turns out those projections were far too high.

"What kind of excuses can you come up with when the guy at the front of the room has no legs?" said an old Army buddy who is now a student.

Last time they saw each other, one had full use of his legs and the other a hull.

"My (military) training taught me situational awareness and attention to detail, which helps me in this job today," Navy veteran says.

Hundreds turned out to honor Richard Overton, famous for his love of whiskey and cigars, before the 112-year-old was interred in the family plot. Some placed roses on his casket, a shiny number with bald eagles embedded in its corners, or swapped tales about how he taught them to play checkers.

In a statement, Joanne White said her son, Michael White, 46, has medical issues and should be released so he can get help.

A World War II veteran who flew planes for the Navy and received his college degree last spring nearly 70 years after he last sat in a classroom has died, his family said. He was 97.

Navy veteran Robert Scott McCubbins’ story is one about loneliness. But it’s also about the opposite - how a community came together to give McCubbin's final companion a home.

Mission accomplished for a former World War II lead pilot and the first-time book author who chronicled his life. Following about 100 hours of conversations over two years, Mitchell M. Topal turned 97-year-old Ray Firmani's recollections into far more than a tactics-heavy review of combat actions and units involved.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Tuesday that the remains of Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Lionel W. Lescault, of Spencer, Mass., were identified in September.

Calvin Smith endured 21 surgeries and a leg amputation caused by war injuries he suffered in Iraq, a motorcycle accident and a brain tumor. On his road to recovery, he fell in love with his speech therapist and she’s now his wife. He also discovered Pilates, which has so reshaped his mental and physical health that he’s now becoming an instructor.

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5633 in Potomac, Md., accessible only through federal parkland, was forced to close during the partial government shutdown.

More than 66,000 USAA members affected by the financial services and insurance company’s failure to stop electronic payment transfers may receive a $181.59 check, following a settlement with federal regulators.

Marine Maj. Henry Courtney Jr.'s family is asking for the medal to be given or loaned to a Duluth veterans memorial and museum that already has a substantial Courtney display.

America is facing an “unprecedented leadership deficit,” and young, educated veterans should be the ones to fill it, the CEO of a large veterans organization argued Friday in a call to action.

Howard Smack, who served in Fort Bragg’s 82nd Airborne Division, said he was in the military for 30 years. He has recently been helping out after his father's kidney transplant.

Chief Pharmacist’s Mate James T. Cheshire of San Diego was killed Dec. 7, 1941. His remains have been identified, the Pentagon announced this week.

Investigators said Army veteran Carlos Cruz-Echevarria came to the aid of a stranded motorist, having no idea he was helping a hit man who was on a mission to kill him. A prosecutor said texts presented in court tell the story of what happened that day.

State police believe Douglas F. Novak beat his elderly father to death over a missing cell phone and then set his house on fire in an attempt to cover his tracks, according to court documents.

On Jan. 23, 1968, North Korea attacked and captured the USS Pueblo and its crew. While eventually released, not all of the crew made it home. None of them came back unscathed. The ship remains in North Korea. One survivor is fighting to change that.

Obituary

Clifford Moore, who died at age 99 on Dec. 29, kept his war experiences mostly to himself until July 2012, when he issued a five-page memoir about his time as a B-17 pilot, including his months in German captivity.

Killed about a month before he was to finish his tour in Vietnam, Air Force veteran Gary Cosgrave was remembered Friday as a bridge in Frederick Virginia was dedicated to his memory.

Marine veteran Steve Weaver has two Purple Hearts as well as a soft spot for the black and purple, the colors of the Baltimore Ravens. The 71-year-old Vietnam veteran will be recognized for both his military experience and dedication to the Ravens at their home playoff game against the the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

Essay

The stranger said he had lifelong insomnia and spends his time watching old game shows on YouTube.

AMVETS is urging the White House and the VA to publicly disavow the proposal in a new Congressional Budget Office report before it creates a groundswell of anger within the veteran community.

Air Force veteran Andrew Koehle died before creating the life he had intended. So when presented the option to donate their son’s organs, parents decided that would become part of their son’s legacy.

Following a yearlong investigation, the Government Accountability Office reported Monday that the VA has cut back since 2016 on suicide prevention outreach. Of the $6.2 million budget obligated for suicide prevention outreach in fiscal year 2018, the agency had spent only $57,000, or less than 1 percent.

The Massachusetts legislature created the Welcome Home Bonus in 2005 for post-9/11 servicemembers. Under the program, residents who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan are eligible to apply for a one-time, tax-free $1,000 bonus. As long as they didn't have a bad paper discharge, a rule a judge has deemed unfair.

gallery

Operation Phantom Support has always known that some people can’t get to its food pantry. Now a partnership with the delivery app JoyRun is helping to fill that gap.

Video

Richard Overton, the oldest-living veteran, was born on May 11, 1906, the same year as the first wireless radio broadcast and a year before Oklahoma became a state. He died Thursday at the age of 112.

The NYPD officer caught on viral video fending off a band of subway vagrants without reaching for his gun has handled himself well under pressure before — he’s a U.S. Army veteran who’s served in Iraq and Afghanistan, police said.

Video

Brian Kolfage, an Air Force veteran who lost his legs and right arm during his second deployment in Iraq in 2004, hopes to raise $5 billion with his “We the People Will Fund the Wall” campaign.

Through the efforts of a Yale Law School clinic, more than 50,000 U.S. Army veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are part of a newly certified class-action lawsuit that challenges the less than honorable discharges they received.

Millions of dollars obligated for Department of Veterans Affairs suicide prevention outreach in fiscal year 2018 was not spent, according to a report released Monday. The revelation prompted blowback this week from some lawmakers and veterans groups.

Christopher and Yuko Nesbitt founded Help Oki in 2014, collecting thousands of pounds of food and hundreds of toys each year for Okinawans who would otherwise go without during the holidays.

Retired Marine Master Sgt. Carl "Bud" DeVere spent his first holiday season away from home as a 19-year-old who had just graduated high school, but he wasn't in a dorm room at college or with a friend's family, he was in the jungle of Guadalcanal. Amid one of the fiercest battles of World War II, DeVere said many of his fellow Marines had totally forgotten about the holidays while fighting in the humid South Pacific climate.

When he joined the Navy in the late 1980s, Gerard Piper was an 18-year-old who wanted to get an education and learn a trade. Along the way, he got into alcohol and drugs. It's only now, decades later, that the veteran from Baton Rouge – who spent nights on the streets – is finding a new path.

A nonprofit that sought and collected donations supposedly for paid phone cards for veterans and their families was ordered by a Minnesota court Thursday to shut down after the state attorney general’s office found the charity fraudulently collected hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Alfred Procopio Jr. left the Navy in 1967, decorated with medals for his service on the USS Intrepid, an aircraft carrier deployed off the coast of Vietnam. He also came home with health problems the U.S. government has linked to exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange.

More than a month after "Saturday Night Live" star Pete Davidson mocked wounded war veteran and Texas Rep.-elect Dan Crenshaw, the stand-up comedian posted a grim message on social media — and Crenshaw called to check on him.

Congress approved legislation Thursday to ensure student veterans who didn’t receive monthly housing payments during the fall semester or received the wrong amounts get the money they’re due.

Although there are thousands of veteran support groups, navigating the bureaucracy is essentially impossible for veterans who are emotionally immobilized by PTSD. One Florida vet, who had his own struggles with PTSD, set up a program just to help vets find the right organization to help them.

Word War II veteran Bruce Benson, 94, has made it a daily routine to play music in honor of the country’s past and current military members. He’s regularly joined by U.S. Marine Corps veteran Dave Bergland, 55.

A trailer containing a Vietnam War memorial that was stolen in Macomb County, Mich., has been found in Detroit, according to a group of very relieved veterans.

Analysis

At a joint hearing Wednesday of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie reported on his department’s progress implementing the VA Mission Act. The facts he shared left many lawmakers concerned that deadlines set only six months ago, particularly for caregiver benefit expansion, might not be met because of VA’s aging computer systems.

The House and Senate veterans affairs committees held a joint hearing Wednesday to discuss the VA Mission Act. This month marks the halfway point between when the bill was signed and when it will go into effect.

“I was in combat, but not anything near what my grandfather had seen,” said a sergeant in New Mexico Army National Guard who was recently awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan from December 2017 through August 2018.

GoFundMe confirmed Monday that 14,000 donors will be getting their money back from the scam, which raised more than $400,000.

Nearly 76 years after his death, WWII veteran Charles Edward Nix remains were finally identified thanks to advances in DNA technology. And next summer, his great-niece and great-nephew will be on hand when they're buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

A ranch in Stillwell, Kan., is a respite where veterans can come and experience a weekend among horses and network with other veterans and mentors. It’s not conventional equine therapy, but rather a place for combat veterans to find their sense of purpose in civilian life.

Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., led the House Veterans' Affairs Committee for two years, during which time he successfully garnered bipartisan support to follow through on numerous, weighty goals. However, it appeared likely Friday that he would fall short on one.

For 52 years, Paul Schultz never revealed details about his Vietnam War service. The closest he got was telling his sons that they owed their lives to his best friend in Vietnam.

Richard Overton, who is 112 years old and also America's oldest man, has been in the hospital since Wednesday.