Two women who found letters from a sailor to his sweetheart went on a quest to track down the family of the senders.

For over an hour Monday, dozens of female soldiers and veterans at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting in Washington took turns shaking the hand of Indiana Hunt-Martin, a 97-year-old World War II veteran whom many of them credited for “paving the way” for their service.

The focus on real people and true events in the military-centric storylines of the Emmy-winning TV show “This Is Us” is largely due to technical consultant James LaPorta, a Marine Corps veteran who used stories of servicemembers and veterans he knew or wrote about, as well as his own experiences, to help the writers shape season four.

When you're traveling in either direction along Interstate 95 in Virginia, you will likely pass more than one sign featuring a silhouette of George Washington's head framed by a golden heart. Some have a green background, others are white. And each announces that you're on a "Purple Heart Trail."

There are 45,559 VSOs in the United States and while some of these, like those in Alabama, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois, are tax-exempt, many, like those in Kentucky, are not.

Albuquerque resident John Rumancik flew eight missions with the 8th Air Force 392nd Bomber Group’s 576th Squadron. And he found out just how dangerous it was to be a member of a flight crew shortly after enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Forces at age 18 in 1943.

A soldier who was shot in the head while searching for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had deserted his post and was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, died Saturday.

C. Ivan Stoltzfus, a retired Sarasota farmer, took his cross-country trip, never going above 14 mph, to raise funds and awareness for Operation Second Chance, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance to wounded, injured and ill servicemembers and their families.

Machinist's Mate 1st Class Ulis Claud Steely came home for the first time in more than 78 years. When the sailor first left home in 1934, it was with Annapolis aspirations. His dad, the Rev. Edward Steely of Poplar Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Corbin, signed his enlistment papers in Lexington when Ulis was just 17. When he came home on Oct. 3, it was in a flag-draped casket.

Three wars and 409 fighter pilot combat missions later, Col. McGee stands as one of the most decorated pilots in America's history as a proud member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

With a crowd of more than 100 on hand, French Consul General Vincent Hommeril stooped to pin a shining medal to Clay Wilson's lapel as the 101-year-old World War II veteran sat in his wheelchair inside the VFW Hall in Sanford on Friday.

It is dedicated to the local soldiers and sailors who fought in World War I, but Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium is also very much a place that students helped build and have called their own for 95 years.

Robert L. Thoms — nicknamed “Cajun Bob” for his thick native Baton Rouge accent — was awarded the Silver Star medal for “conspicuous gallantry” during the assault on the Arch Tower on Feb. 15, 1968, during some of the most ferocious fighting of North Vietnam’s Tet Offensive.

Francis Currey's Medal of Honor — which he received on July 27, 1945, after the Allied victory in Europe and just before the defeat of Japan — was one of 472 awarded for service during World War II, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Navy pilot Byron Fuller spent almost six years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, where his battered body was tortured and starved. Upon his release in 1973, he promptly took up again the life that was his: As husband, father, Navy man.

Veterans and servicemembers are required to pay a Department of Veterans Affairs funding fee when they apply for a home loan from the agency. Veterans who possess a disability rating are exempt from the fee, which is designed to offset administration costs for the VA.

Mel Hays called the group The Laurel Parc Scooter Club. He remembered the power that came when World War II pilots climbed into planes with names and insignias, reminders they were fighting for something bigger than any one of them. And, the way Hays saw it, this club was also engaged in a fight.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie praised the nation’s 37th commander in chief as “the man who probably did more for veterans than any president since Abraham Lincoln.”

Tammie Jo Shults, the former fighter pilot who was captain of the plane that now stands as the only fatal flight in Southwest’s history, released a new book after 16 months of near-silence about the terrifying flight.

Rotarians, firefighters, veterans and more turned up to take down two pine trees and four redwoods — all more than 40 feet tall — from the home of a disabled veteran in Northern California.

It’s been almost 70 years since 23-year-old Sgt. David Alexander Feriend went missing in Korea while serving with the U.S. Army at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. On Friday, Feriend’s younger sister will finally welcome her late brother back home.

A former University of New Hampshire professor is suing several university administrators, along with the institution, for not renewing his contract last year because, his lawsuit claims, of his veteran status.

A resolution introduced last week by U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley proposed a Forever stamp series to honor women who served in the military, including two Stark County, Ohio, women who were killed in action.

France is bestowing its highest honor on two Ohio military veterans for their participation in the liberation of France during World War II.

Remains belonging to a soldier from Tennessee who was killed in the Korean War are scheduled for burial, Wednesday, at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Cadet Nurse Corps operated from 1943 to 1948, when the country worried about a shortage of nurses. The vast majority of them were women, serving in war hospitals overseas and in civilian hospitals in the U.S. to fill a massive need.

Michael Saxon served in the U.S. Army during World War II from 1942 to 1945. Family, friends and fellow veterans were on hand Thursday when he celebrated his 102nd birthday.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is at least $17 million over budget and years behind schedule on multiple projects to build new veterans cemeteries, a federal watchdog reported this week.

President Donald Trump’s administration is proposing changes to SNAP that would result in an estimated 3 million people losing food assistance — a savings of $2.5 billion each year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dozens of community members, veterans and active duty military personnel gathered at the Dewett Veterans Memorial Wayside in North Bend over the weekend to watch the official unveiling and take part in its dedication ceremony.

The crowd was estimated at 4,000, with people still coming in after the service. No veteran should ever be buried alone, and Edward Pearson Sr. certainly was not. If he didn’t have family, then everyone there would be his family — only Pearson had family after all.

Eric Pizer is a father, a college graduate with an associate degree in criminal justice and a decorated Iraq War veteran who has always wanted to be a police officer. But for the past almost 15 years, Pizer, 38, has also been a felon.

U.S. Marine Corps veteran Travis Snyder has completed an 810-mile trek around Lake Michigan for suicide awareness. He was inspired by the suicide deaths of two of his Marine brothers — one he was close friends with — in the past year and his own experience with depression.

Though it's now an economic powerhouse, Lloyd “Butch” Fischer, 85, of Oklahoma, who served in Korea from 1955 to 1957, remembers a country full of charred buildings and bullet holes in the wake of the fighting.

Ted Gallagher Gallagher, 57, who is from the San Francisco Bay area, is walking 150 miles — from Zuma Beach in Malibu to Coronado Island — to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation.

As one of the few remaining World War II veterans in Lee County, North Carolina native Ernest Earl Ballinger, 95, has told and retold his experience.

A Fisher House provides families a place to stay, free of charge, while their loved ones are receiving treatment at a VA Medical Center or military base. The 16-suite, 13,270-square-foot Fisher House in Huntington will join 84 other Fisher Houses operating in the United States and Europe when it is completed next year.

Cpl. Orie D.W. Sampson Jr. was 23 years old when he served as a light weapons crewman in the Army's 7th Infantry Division during the Battle of Triangle Hill in October 1952.

Miguel Perez Jr. was deported to Mexico last year after serving time in prison for a nonviolent drug conviction. He was granted permission last month by immigration officials to re-enter the country for another chance to become a U.S. citizen.

There was already one brick for Capt. Patrick McNulty in the walkway in James Memorial Park that honors West Rockhill veterans. It wasn't big enough to fit in all the important information, though, so now there's a second, larger one. "Silver Star, four Purple Hearts, Ranger, he's got quite a background," said one donor shortly before installing McNulty's new brick.

In the 18 months since her younger brother killed himself in the parking lot of a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, Alissa Harrington has joined a support network, passed the bar exam, become an advocate for veteran suicide prevention and continued to share his story.

The National Purple Heart Honor Mission began presenting the Genesis Medal in 2017 to Purple Heart recipients and others who have served the United States and supported its armed forces with distinction. It is named for the Genesis Group of four who founded the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor, N.Y.

The new partnership “will aggressively target fraud in the VA’s expanding health care programs,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the DOJ’s criminal division.

Army Sgt. Gerald B. Raeymacker was 21 years-old when he was reported missing in action on Dec. 6, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. His remains were among those returned by North Korea in 2018.

A new stamp featuring the Purple Heart will be available at post offices Friday, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

The former president of a veterans charity who was convicted last year of crimes related to spending the nonprofit’s money on jewelry, shopping and other personal expenses has been sentenced to a year in prison, with the sentence stayed pending appeal, according to court records.

Civilian life after a military career can be a challenge. It wasn’t easy for Oscar Alvarez, who went through four jobs before finding his calling as a manager with the U.S. Eagles national rugby team.

Caregivers for veterans of conflicts before the 9/11 terrorist attacks won’t receive congressionally mandated benefits until summer 2020 at the earliest, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday.

The Motts Military Museum in Ohio will dedicate the Vietnam War Dog Team Memorial this weekend, and the Vietnam veteran whose relationship with his military working dog inspired the memorial's sculpture will be on hand to witness the ceremony.

The Connecticut service for the veterans was the latest in an ongoing effort to honor and properly bury the cremated remains of forgotten veterans left unclaimed — sometimes for decades — in funeral homes.

A World War II B-17 pilot described a Wednesday crash involving one of the vintage bombers as like losing a family member.

After more than five months in which he had no control over his life, Keith Lewis found a world of virtually unlimited possibilities when he emerged from captivity in early 1973. He chose religion.

Tuesday marks the start of a nationwide smoking ban at all veteran’s affairs hospitals and clinics. The ban represents a culture shift in the VA system, which had allowed for "smoking shelters" where patients could light up inside many hospitals.

The California-based nonprofit organization Operation Surf helps military veterans cope with trauma and injuries by introducing them to surfing.

It has been 83 days since two veterans of two different military divisions began their journey kayaking down the Mississippi River on July 10 in north Minnesota. After traveling 2,000 miles they reached Natchez on Tuesday.

The San Diego chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, maybe the last one still operating in the U.S., held its final meeting Saturday, a bow to the relentless march of time.

More than 10 years ago, Heather Hennessey felt overwhelmed during her transition out of the Army to the point of attempting suicide. Hennessey has gone from that point of her life to being named the Veterans Affairs' first National National Peer Specialist of the Year.

Q & A

Raised in an Ohio trailer park, comedian Gary Owen honed his comedy skills during a six-year stint in the Navy. He appeared on "The Wayans Brothers" television show in 1998 and made his film debut the following year in "Held Up," which starred Jamie Foxx.

U.S. and state flags will be flown at half-staff across Wisconsin Sunday in honor of a soldier from Sheboygan who died in World War II and whose body was recently returned home.

Bradford Freeman, a member of the "Band of Brothers," was one of four World War II veterans who shared their war experiences to about 60 people who gathered in a Lee County Justice Center courtroom.

Obituary

Carmen J. “Carl” Covino, of Hamburg, New York, a World War II veteran and retired steelworker, died Sept. 27 after a struggle with congestive heart failure. He was 102.

Andrea Goldstein, a Navy veteran and senior policy adviser for Congress’ new Women Veterans Task Force, said she was assaulted by a man inside the VA Medical Center in Washington on Sept. 20.

Following a campaign Monday to raise awareness on Capitol Hill about imprisoned American journalist Austin Tice, 173 lawmakers signed a letter to President Donald Trump, pleading for help to secure Tice’s return.

Under rules now, most veterans and military retirees are eligible for either above- or below-ground burial in Arlington. The Army will begin a monthslong rule-making process to change the criteria.

The artistic skill of local veterans was showcased during an exhibition Saturday at the Jacksonville-Onslow Council for the Arts but it wasn’t the paintings, pottery, photography or sculpting that was most important.

Marine Corps Pfc. Grady J. Crawford returned home Friday, nearly 70 years after his mother received a telegram saying he’d gone missing on a frozen battlefield in the Korean War, thousands of miles from where he’d grown up in Dallas.

Nate Boyer was thrust into the national spotlight after he wrote an open letter to Colin Kaepernick explaining how he felt about the decision by the then-quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers to sit during the national anthem.

Michael “Mickey” Henson was a young boy when his three older brothers joined the Navy to fight in the Korean War. Now, nearly five decades later, the four brothers who once shared a bedroom boarded a flight together to visit Washington D.C. as part of Mission 14 of Honor Flight Syracuse.

Retired Air Force Master Sgt. John Stumpf, a reclusive 82-year-old with no known family, was laid to rest Thursday with full military honors — including a rifle volley and the playing of "Taps" — provided by a Hurlburt Field honor guard.

Montgomery County's Director of Veteran Affairs Dennis Miller, a retired Coast Guard veteran, provided a short eulogy at the burial of the remains of Army veteran LeRoy Bortner and his wife Lucille. "We did not know you. We found you," he said. "But we will never forget you."

Building Homes for Heroes began with a goal of gifting one home to one injured veteran. The home for Army Spc. Craig Hall in Glastonbury, Connecticut, will be the 200th home by the organization, which has expanded its goal to gifting one home every 11 days across the United States.

Pfc. Joseph Robert Livermore was only 21 when he was killed by an enemy bayonet, fighting in hand-to-hand combat on the heavily fortified, Japanese-held island of Betio.

Heeding pleas from state and local officials, Denver’s Regional Transportation District decided Tuesday to approve a plan to make the city a more attractive candidate for the National Medal of Honor Museum.

Vietnam veteran Bobby Daniels has between 24 to 32 months to live, and he’s using some of those to ensure that his wife receives the benefits she’s owed when he’s gone.

The Government Accountability Office will examine how the Department of Veterans Affairs rates its nursing homes at the request of three senators, who announced the upcoming review Monday.

A Navy veteran who sued Dorn Veterans Hospital in Columbia, S.C., after he said they failed to diagnose and promptly treat him when he came to the hospital sick has gotten $150,000 in a settlement of his medical malpractice lawsuit.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea is seeking Korean War veterans to honor with the Ambassador for Peace Medal. The medal is an expression of appreciation from the Korean government to the American men and women who served in the Korean War.

Austin Tice, a former Marine captain who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, was reporting in Damascus when he was abducted in 2012, and he’s believed to be held by the Syrian government or allied forces.

Harold Pedersen, who passed away Sept. 7 in Helena, Mont., at age 96, celebrated his 22nd birthday the day of the invasion on Feb. 19, 1945.

The VA released its annual National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report on Friday, tracking the changes from year to year. The 2019 report includes data from 2017, the most recent available.

The Department of Veterans Affairs intends to strip California of its contract to regulate GI Bill benefits, denying the state a power it has used in the past to investigate alleged abuses by for-profit colleges and to hand down sanctions.

On a hot day in front of a large crowd of community members, elected officials and veterans from all military branches, Veterans Memorial Park in Whitehouse was officially dedicated to become a space that honors military veterans and first responders.

Sgt. Henry C. Smith was awarded a Silver Star for his efforts in leading an intelligence and reconnaissance patrol through the jungles of Burma in April 1944. He died Aug. 5 at the age of 98.

Hawaii’s U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz and 12 other Senate Democrats have written to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to urge a reversal of the Trump administration’s termination of a program to reunite Filipino World War II veterans with their families in the U.S.

Marveling at the mammoth World War II warbirds on the tarmac at the Worcester Regional Airport, WWII veteran Herbert Keilson's eyes focused on the fuselage of a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, the type of aircraft on which he once served as a flight engineer.

The fourth annual Stop Soldier Suicide 10K/5K race drew more than 300 people. Founded by three Army veterans in 2010, the organization provides assistance to veterans and active duty soldiers in need.