Nikki Wentling

Nikki Wentling covers veterans for Stars and Stripes and is based in Washington, D.C. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor of science in news and information.

Wentling previously covered local government for the Lawrence Journal-World in Lawrence, Kan. and military and veterans for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock, Ark.

Email: wentling.nikki@stripes.com | Phone: (202) 761-0865 | Twitter: @nikkiwentling

A t-shirt worn by a volunteer on Capitol Hill on Sept. 23, 2019 gives details about Austin Tice, a journalist who has been missing in Syria for seven years.<br> Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

Journalists, students press lawmakers to help secure return of Marine vet Austin Tice

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.

Merle Haggard appears on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1970. Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" inadvertently became the rallying cry for those who supported the Vietnam War.<br>Les Leverett

Country and conflict: Among documentary's musical threads is story of Americans at war

Country music has attempted through its songs to reflect the happenings of its time, relaying the sense of duty felt during World War II, the national divisions caused by the Vietnam War and the renewed patriotism following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Army Capt. Kyle Salik is the first patient to receive oxygen therapy at the new Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine Clinic at Brooke Army Medical Center June 20, 2017.<br>Robert Shields/U.S. Army

Lawmakers want to expand use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for vets with PTSD, brain injury

Two lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate on Wednesday that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury – an unproven treatment that some veterans have praised as a useful tool in their recovery.

Sherri Vlastuin, an Army combat medic based at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, has become popular on Instagram over the past two years. She wants to use the social media network to inspire young women, but cybercriminals using her photos to engage in "romance scams" have made Vlastuin consider deleting her online presence.<br>Instagram

Cybercriminals target military online to set up impostor 'romance scams'

Romance scams are part of a new 200-page report released Tuesday by Vietnam Veterans of America, which has spent the past two years on a study of online trolls and their tendency to target veterans and servicemembers.

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, left, says Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., right, misled the public over Mast's eviction from his congressional office inside a VA hospital.<br>

VA secretary, congressman feud over office space inside Florida hospital

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie accused a Florida congressman of misleading the public Friday after the lawmaker expressed outrage at being evicted from his congressional office inside a VA hospital.

Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., looks out the window of a Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft off the coast of Palm Beach, Fla., Sept. 12, 2017, in the wake of Hurricane Irma.<br>Mark Barney/U.S. Coast Guard

Lawmakers evicted from offices inside Florida VA hospitals

The Department of Veterans Affairs sent eviction notices to six members of Congress from Florida at the end of August, booting them and their staffs out of their offices inside VA hospitals in West Palm Beach and Orlando.

Court: VA wrongly withheld money from vets, must reimburse them for emergency care costs

A federal court ruled Tuesday that the Department of Veterans Affairs wrongly denied reimbursements for some veterans who received emergency medical treatment at non-VA facilities — a ruling that could cost the agency billions of dollars.

Women who deploy overseas may continue to face obstacles in an area that can have a critical impact on their military experience: contraception. <br>Kirk McKoy, Los Angeles Times/TNS

House lawmakers aim to provide free birth control for female veterans

The Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act would do away with copayments for birth control, saving female veterans a total of $400,000 each year, according to VA estimates.

<br>Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks/Facebook

Lawmaker blasts VA for 'second chance' given to VA doctor found drunk on the job

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., urged the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on Tuesday to investigate how the Department of Veterans Affairs handled the case of a pathologist in Fayetteville, Ark., who is accused of misdiagnosing patients while he was intoxicated on the job.

VA closes facilities, cancels appointments in three states as the agency braces for Dorian

According to the National Hurricane Center, Dorian’s effects are predicted to be felt along the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina from Tuesday through Thursday.

Sailors assigned to Naval Station Mayport, Fla., lay down mooring lines as the Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Ft. McHenry is moved in preparation for Hurricane Dorian at Naval Station Mayport, Aug. 29, 2019.<br>Devin Bowser/U.S. Navy

‘Take care of yourself and your family now:’ Florida bases, VA hospitals prepare for hurricane

Military bases and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Florida were preparing Friday for what’s predicted to be a Category 4 hurricane making landfall over the Labor Day weekend.

Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., shown here at a hearing in March, 2018, will resign at the end of the year due to ongoing health problems.<br>Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

Sen. Johnny Isakson, chairman of veterans' affairs committee, to resign at end of 2019

Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Republican from Georgia and chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, announced Wednesday that he will resign at the end of the year because of ongoing health problems.

Retired Army Sgt. Felix McDermott died April 9, 2018, at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center.<br>McDermott family

Several suspicious deaths at West Virginia VA now under investigation

Details of potential wrongdoing were outlined last week in a wrongful death claim filed against the VA by the family of retired Army Sgt. Felix McDermott. McDermott, a Vietnam War veteran, died April 9, 2018, at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center.

A marijuana plant growing in at a cultivation business in Adelanto, Calif.<br>Irfan Khan, Los Angeles Times/TNS

DEA to increase number of marijuana growers for research

The Drug Enforcement Administration announced Monday it plans to increase the number of producers who can grow marijuana for scientific research — action taken after a lawsuit against the DEA filed by researchers studying the drug as a potential treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.<br>VA

Veteran's suicide reveals unsafe practices at West Palm Beach VA

A veteran’s suicide at a Department of Veterans Affairs facility in Florida earlier this year prompted an investigation that revealed unsafe practices and inoperable cameras in the mental health unit where the patient received treatment.

Trump proclaims controversial new drug has 'incredible' potential to prevent veteran suicide

Spravato was approved in March by the Food and Drug Administration to treat severe depression. It’s a nasal spray based on the anesthetic ketamine, which is designated as a “club drug” by the National Institute on Drug Abuses.

President Donald Trump greets AMVETS national commander Rege Riley at the American Veterans 75th National Convention in Louisville, Ky., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019. <br>Susan Walsh/AP

Trump directs agencies to create faster debt forgiveness process for disabled vets

President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Wednesday that directs the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Education to quickly forgive the federal student loan debt of 25,000 totally and permanently disabled veterans.

Union files grievance with VA over new smoking ban

A union representing Department of Veterans Affairs employees filed a grievance over the agency’s recent decision to include workers in a smoking ban that will soon go into effect at VA facilities nationwide.

Former VA Secretary David Shulkin looks up at a chart on a monitor during a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Feb. 6, 2018.<br>Stars and Stripes

VA sued over private emails between former top official and ‘Mar-a-Lago Crowd’

The lawsuit claims the VA’s lack of effort to preserve or recover the emails is in violation of the Federal Records Act and Administrative Procedures Act.

Coretta Scott King holding a candle and leading a march at night to the White House as part of the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam which took place on October 15, 1969.<br>U.S. News & World Report

VIETNAM AT 50

Washington in 1969 hosted largest antiwar protest in US history

While hundreds of thousands of demonstrators converged on Washington in November 1969 to show their growing disdain for America’s involvement in Vietnam, Sgt. Grant Coates was bunkered in the Commerce Department with his fellow soldiers, peeking out windows to catch glimpses at the activity outside.

Lawmakers urge VA to fix rejected emergency care claims that wrongly cost vets $53 million

The VA Office of Inspector General discovered the VA wrongfully rejected thousands of emergency-care claims during a five-month period in 2017, affecting an estimated 17,400 veterans who were stuck with varying medical bills that totaled $53.3 million.

Report: VA wrongfully denied $53 million in veterans' emergency care claims

The errors affected an estimated 17,400 veterans who were stuck with a total $53.3 million in medical bills that the Department of Veterans Affairs should have paid, the VA Office of Inspector General reported.

The Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, N.C.<br>Facebook

Veteran dies by suicide at VA parking lot in North Carolina

The veteran, who has not been identified publicly, died just before 9 a.m. in the visitor parking lot of the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville, N.C., according to a statement from the hospital. The Asheville Police Department is investigating.

Awaiting the start of a House Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing on the situation with wait times at VA hospitals, five years after the Phoenix scandal, July 24, 2019 on Capitol Hill are, left to right, Dr. Debra A. Draper, director of the Government Accountability Office's health care team; Dr. Teresa S. Boyd, Veterans Health Administration assistant deputy under secretary for health for clinical operations' Dr. Susan R. Kirsh, Veterans Health Administration acting assistant deputy under secretary for health for access to care; Dr. Clinton (Leo) Greenstone, deputy executive director for clinical integrity of the Veterans Health Administration's Office of Community Care; and Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer, chief healthcare transformation officer and senior executive vice president of Atlas Research, Inc.<br> Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

Five years after Phoenix scandal, VA still doesn’t keep reliable wait-time data

The Department of Veterans Affairs still fails to reliably track wait times for veterans seeking health care in the wake of a national scandal that five years ago found more than 200 veterans died while waiting for appointments, a federal watchdog agency reported.

Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie testifies during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 26, 2019. <br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

Lawsuit filed against VA secretary over delaying benefits for Blue Water Navy vets

Military Veterans Advocacy and the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association filed the lawsuit, arguing Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie doesn’t have the authority to delay work on the claims until Jan. 1, 2020.

Children place pinwheels on a fence at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., on April 11, 2019, during Child Abuse Prevention Month.<br>Daniel Brosam/U.S. Air Force

Partisan fighting surrounds effort to stop VA from hiring child care workers charged with crimes

The legislation would prohibit the VA from contracting with a child care provider if they employ anyone who has been charged with certain crimes, unless they were found innocent and the provider suspended the employee while their case was going through the criminal justice system.

A Marine at Camp Pendleton, Calif., is shown smoking a cigarette in June 24, 2011.<br>Salvador R. Moreno/U.S. Marine Corps

Department of Veterans Affairs’ new ‘smoke-free’ policy doesn’t apply to employees

While veterans, visitors, volunteers, contractors and vendors will be prohibited from smoking on VA grounds, employees will keep their smoking privileges because of a memorandum of understanding between the VA and the American Federation of Government Employees.

Soldiers of the 184th Sustainment Command, serving in the 1st Theater Sustainment Command's Syrian Logistics Cell, gather for a Fourth of July photo in Irbil, Iraq.<br>Paul Dennis/U.S. Army

Pew report: Most veterans say the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were not worth fighting

About two-thirds of veterans think the Iraq War was not worth fighting, and more than 50% think the same about the war in Afghanistan, according to the Pew Research Center.

U.S. President Donald Trump, shown during a signing ceremony for the Taxpayer First Act in the Oval Office of the White House on July 1, 2019, tweeted on July 3, 2019, that the administration will continue to pursue a citizenship question on the census.<br>Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS

Survey: Veterans more supportive than other Americans of Trump’s national security decisions

President Donald Trump, who often has struggled with low approval ratings, has more support from veterans than other Americans when it comes to his national security decisions.

Department of Veterans Affairs facilities to be smoke-free by October

The smoke-free policy applies to patients, visitors, volunteers, contractors and vendors at VA facilities, and it prohibits cigarettes, cigars, pipes, vape pens and e-cigarettes.

A Bible is part of a memorial table display at the veterans hospital in Manchester, N.H.<br>Kristin Pressly/Manchester VA Medical Center via AP

VA secretary moves to permit public display of religious symbols

Citing a need to protect religious liberty, Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie issued new policies Wednesday permitting displays of religious and spiritual symbols in VA facilities. VA facilities are also now allowed to accept donations of religious literature and symbols.

The design on the shirt paying tribute to the USS John S. McCain.<br>ragsofhonor.us

Veterans to hand out John McCain shirts at July Fourth celebration in DC

VoteVets, a liberal advocacy group founded by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans, are behind the effort to distribute shirts Thursday featuring the USS John McCain, a Navy destroyer, along with the words, “Big Bad John.”

A U.S. Huey helicopter sprays Agent Orange over Vietnam.<br>WikiMedia Commons

VA delays decision to add more diseases to Agent Orange list

Researchers with the National Academy of Medicine released a report stating there was “suggestive” evidence that eight diseases — including prostate cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson-like syndromes — could be caused by Agent Orange

Michael Montoya, an Army veteran, in his office on the Ohkay Owingeh pueblo in north-central New Mexico on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018. Montoya is the only person in his pueblo who helps veterans and their families with VA claims.<br>NIKKI WENTLING/STARS AND STRIPES

VA policy restricts ‘meaningful access’ to benefits for Native Americans

Among a host of inequities, the most important problem to address is a VA policy that prevents tribes from having their own accredited advocates who can log into VA systems and help veterans and their families with benefits claims — a process that is notoriously time-consuming and complex.

President Donald Trump.<br>Stars and Stripes

Trump plans phone call about VA Mission Act with 10,000 veterans next week

President Donald Trump will address 10,000 veterans by phone next week about a new law that aims to expand veterans’ access to private-sector doctors.

Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., listens as Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, speaks at a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday, June 20, 2019.<br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

Pushing for VA policy change, congresswoman opens up about sexual assault

Rep. Annie Kuster's comments came during a hearing about the Department of Veterans Affairs and its decisions about disability benefits for veterans who claim they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder related to military sexual assault.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., signs the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019, during a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. At right looking on are Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and the committee's Ranking Member Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn.<br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

A bittersweet victory: Veteran behind Blue Water case sees its resolution after 13 years

Alfred Procopio Jr. said he learned perseverance from his parents, who “never took no for an answer.” And now the name “Procopio” represents a major victory for tens of thousands of Vietnam War veterans, thanks to the case of Procopio v. Wilkie.

The W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center.<br>VA

North Carolina VA hospital bought $2.3 million surgical robot without permission

A Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in North Carolina spent $2.3 million on a surgical robot without approval, a federal watchdog reported Wednesday.

ICE fails to give veterans special consideration before deporting them, GAO says

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t track how many veterans it deports or consider a person’s military service before deporting them, a federal watchdog agency reported Thursday.

USS Crockett in South Vietnamese waters in 1968. The Crockett is one of the ships whose crew are eligible for benefits under the assumption of Agent Orange exposure. <br>U.S. Navy

DOJ drops case against benefits for Blue Water Navy vets

With the court challenge apparently over, tens of thousands of veterans – with estimates up to 90,000 – are in line to receive VA benefits.

VA to expand veterans’ access to private medical care

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday will launch a major expansion of veterans’ access to private doctors – a reform effort President Donald Trump has promised since his 2016 campaign.

From left to right, Dale Eisenburg, Ray Novak, Erich Totsch and Charles “Lynn” Lowder aboard the “Fred A. Busse,” a 1930s-era Chicago fireboat, in May. With the help of Eisenburg and Lowder, Navy veterans Novak and Totsch purchased the boat, which they plan to use for commercial tours along the Chicago River.<br>COURTESY PHOTO

Website matches veteran entrepreneurs with businesses

What has traditionally been a strong entrepreneurial trend among veterans is facing a generational decline. One veteran's solution is something like a dating website, but instead of logging on to find a love connection, wannabe business owners can look for a match among companies for sale.

Motorcyclists make their way up Constitution Avenue in Washington on Sunday, May 28, 2017, during the 30th anniversary of Rolling Thunder.<br>Amanda L. Trypanis/Stars and Stripes

Medical marijuana for vets to be highlighted during Rolling Thunder event

Veterans Cannabis Project, which lobbies for easier access to medical marijuana, partnered with Rolling Thunder’s primary sponsor, Harley-Davidson of Washington, D.C., to host a free barbecue and concert that aims to rally support for marijuana advocacy.

Acting Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Byrne listens as Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Jon Tester, D-Mont., makes his opening statement during a Capitol Hill hearing on Byrne's selection to serve in that position on a permanent basis, May 16, 2019.<br>Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

VA deputy nominee praises accountability law that failed to fire senior leader

The nominee for second-in-command at the Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday that the Trump administration’s controversial Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act has helped the agency become a “rising star” of the federal government.

House again passes 'Blue Water' Navy benefits bill with unanimous support

For the second time in less than a year, the House unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would extend benefits to Vietnam War sailors who have fought for years to prove they were exposed to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange.

House lawmakers question VA’s ability to meet deadline for GI Bill changes

Department of Veterans Affairs officials tried to assuage House lawmakers' doubts about the agency’s ability to successfully implement changes to veterans’ education benefits by a December 1 deadline.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee members Reps. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C., Chris Pappas, D-N.H., Conor Lamb, D-Pa., and Max Rose, D-N.Y., left to right, Stand behind a suicide awareness poster at a Capitol Hill press conference in April. On Wednesday, the panel sent 18 bills to the full House for approval, including H.R. 2340, the FIGHT Veterans Suicide Act.<br>Stars and Stripes

Veteran suicide, 'blue water' benefits among topics addressed in 18 bills OK'd by House panel

The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs sent 18 bills to the full House Wednesday, including legislation to address veteran suicides, create a fourth administration at the Department of Veterans Affairs and extend benefits to “Blue Water” Navy veterans.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., speaks in favor of benefits for "Blue Water Navy" veterans at a Capitol Hill press conference in December, 2018. Takano, now chairman on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, and then-chairman Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., right, now the ranking member, have introduced bills at the start of the new Congress to extend benefits to the affected veterans.<br>Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

House panel considers 'blue water' bill in wake of court ruling

Following a federal court decision that veterans who served offshore on ships during the Vietnam War should be eligible for Agent Orange benefits, lawmakers made their case Wednesday for why legislation is still needed to ensure it gets done.

House Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Phil Roe, R-Tenn., makes a point during a Capitol Hill press conference on April 29, 2019. At right is committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif.<br>Joe Gromelski/Stars and Stripes

Veteran suicide crisis draws attention from House lawmakers who promise action following multiple deaths on VA campuses

The scheduled hearing and news conference were held in response to multiple instances of veterans dying by suicide in April — three suicides in five days. A fourth veteran died by suicide outside a VA clinic in Cleveland Monday.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas.<br>

House lawmakers Crenshaw, Ocasio-Cortez spotlight opposite views on VA reform

Freshmen lawmakers Reps. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. have become media sensations in their respective parties, each gaining hundreds of thousands of social media followers during their first months in the House.

Jose Ramos, a former Navy corpsman with three combat deployments under his belt, speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a Wounded Warrior Project event held at the White House on Thursday, April 18, 2019.<br>Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes

'I’m having a good day,' Trump says at wounded warrior event following release of Mueller report

In front of a backdrop of 29 veterans, President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed vindication following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s redacted report on possible collusion efforts between his campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 elections in his favor.

New legislation would recognize nine more diseases caused by Agent Orange

“American heroes affected by Agent Orange deserve the peace of mind knowing that the federal government recognizes the existing link between their exposure and illness,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn.

The Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, D.C.<br>Stars and Stripes

Special counsel: VA miscommunication and delays to blame for amputation of veteran's leg

“It is unacceptable that a situation should ever arise where our nation’s veterans are provided such substandard care that it resulted in a loss of limb, because of a mistake by the agency entrusted to take care of them,” wrote Special Counsel Henry Kerner.

VA leaders against adding a fourth administration to the department

A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation last week to create the Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration at the VA and add a new senior official to lead it. It would include programs such as the GI Bill,

Effort underway in Congress to add a fourth administration to the VA

The VA is currently made up of three administrations: the National Cemetery Administration, the Veterans Health Administration and the Veterans Benefits Administration.

House lawmakers ask VA to delay expansion into private sector, citing IT issues

The department is working toward a June 6 deadline to implement a new community care program for VA patients that was mandated by Congress under the VA Mission Act, a major reform bill.

<br>Illustration by Andrea Villari/Stars and Stripes

Two senators want to revoke ‘BRAC-like’ review of VA facilities

Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mike Rounds, D-S.D., introduced legislation Wednesday to eliminate the VA Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie testifies before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Tuesday, March 26, 2019, during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. After the hearing, Wilkie answered questions about reports that he was seeking to become the next Defense secretary. “I’m very happy at VA,” Wilkie said. “I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon.”<br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

VA secretary denies reports he’s looking for another job

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie pushed back Tuesday against reports that he launched an internal campaign to become the next secretary of defense.

VA secretary recommends DOJ not challenge ruling on ‘blue water’ benefits

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie recommended the Justice Department not contest a federal court ruling that could extend benefits to Vietnam veterans who served on ships offshore during the war, he announced Tuesday.

Federal watchdog: VA leadership failures are to blame for GI Bill payment issues

The Department of Veterans Affairs didn’t have a designated official overseeing the project to implement portions of the new Forever GI Bill, VA Inspector General Michael Missal wrote in a report released Wednesday.

Staff Sgt. Roger Murvin troubleshoots a computer at the hub at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., Dec. 11, 2018. Four congressmen are urging the FBI to investigate “foreign entities” believed to be targeting servicemembers and veterans online with false information.<br>Tessa B. Corrick/U.S. Air Force

Congressmen urge FBI to investigate bots targeting veterans with fake news

A study from Oxford University in 2017 found Russian operatives used Twitter and Facebook to disseminate “junk news” to veterans and servicemembers.

Property management company forced to pay $1.5 million for wrongfully evicting servicemembers

The Justice Department discovered PRG Real Estate Management had evicted tenants from 2006 to 2017 without disclosing to state courts that they were active-duty servicemembers, a violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

The John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act honors a retired Navy commander who died by suicide Feb. 25, 2018 at age 46 and is shown here in a photo from his obituary.<br>

New legislation seeks to provide staff, funding, research to help prevent veteran suicides

Legislation introduced in the Senate this week aims to tackle the nation’s veteran suicide epidemic by boosting funding, mental health staff, alternative therapies and research at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Members of advocacy groups gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 18, 2016, to promote the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act.<br>Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes

Veterans groups appeal to Trump over benefits for Blue Water Navy veterans

At issue is the interpretation of the current law, which allows easier access to disability benefits for veterans who “served in the Republic of Vietnam” and suffer from one of a list of illnesses linked to the Agent Orange.

President Donald Trump's request for the Department of Veterans Affairs budget is $220 billion — up 9.5 percent from fiscal 2019.<br>

Key veterans groups blast Trump’s VA budget proposal as falling short of veterans’ needs

Three large veterans organizations criticized President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal for the Department of Veterans Affairs, arguing the historically high amount still falls short of meeting veterans’ needs.

Retiring judge calls VA appeals system a 'tragedy'

Chief Judge Robert Davis said the pressure on VA employees to get through a large backlog of benefits claims leads to poor decision-making and a high number of appeals.

Trump's budget request seeks another increase in VA funding

President Donald Trump’s budget request for fiscal 2020 includes $220 billion for the VA — up 9.5 percent from fiscal 2019, when the agency’s budget surpassed $200 billion for the first time.

Air Force veteran Corey Adams, a Milwaukee resident diagnosed with PTSD, went missing and was found dead 18 days later. His death inspired a Green Alert system in Wisconsin, and two U.S. senators are pushing for a nationwide version.<br>Family photo

Senators push for nationwide Green Alert system for missing veterans

Two senators introduced legislation Thursday that would create a Green Alert public notification system to find veterans when they go missing.

The House passed the Burn Pit Registry Enhancement Act on Wednesday, March 7, 2019, with a vote of 416-0. It would allow family members of deceased servicemembers and veterans to enter cause of death in the registry.<br>U.S. Army Public Health Command

House bill strengthens burn pit registry

The House unanimously approved a bill this week to make the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry a more useful tool for researching the health effects of toxic exposure on servicemembers and veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Washington, D.C. <br>Veterans Affairs/Facebook

VA contracting at 'high risk' for wasting tax dollars

The Government Accountability Office on Wednesday declared Department of Veterans Affairs contracting, which topped $26 billion in 2017, is a “high risk” area of government, susceptible to waste and mismanagement of taxpayer money and in need of more oversight.

An airman types on his computer during the Cybersecurity Foundry Course at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., March 9, 2018.<br>Mariette Adams/U.S. Air Force

House VA committee launches investigation of bots using fake news to target veterans, servicemembers

In a statement, committee chairman Rep. Mark Takano said foreign actors are using “shadowy practices” to disseminate false information to servicemembers, veterans and their families.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for an executive order on a "National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide," in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in Washington<br>Evan Vucci/AP

Trump creates task force to combat veteran suicide

Over the next year, the PREVENTS initiative will be responsible for working with public and private sectors to better understand the underlying factors of suicide and plan methods for addressing it at state and local levels.

Members of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Class of 2018 celebrate on Saturday, June 16.<br>U.S. Merchant Marine Academy ALUMNI/Facebook

Trump executive order eases veteran transition into Merchant Marine

Trump’s administration is positing the action as part of a broader effort to transition veterans into civilian jobs. It’s also a method to boost the number of highly-qualified mariners in the Merchant Marine, which has faced a shortage in recent years.

Sue Sisley pictured inside Scottsdale Resarch Institute in Phoenix, the site of a groundbreaking study into marijuana's effects on veterans with PTSD, on Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Sisley is a psychiatrist known nationally as an advocate of medical marijuana research.<br>Nikki Wentling/Stars and Stripes

Marijuana-PTSD study concludes after 10 years of planning, research

Ten researchers gathered in San Francisco this week to comb through data from a just-completed study on the effect of marijuana on post-traumatic stress disorder – the first government-approved research of its kind.

Army veteran shoots doctor at VA hospital in Florida

The FBI said Larry Ray Bon, 59, shot a doctor in the neck just before a mental health evaluation at West Palm Beach VA Medical Center.

Military Religious Freedom Foundation president Mikey Weinstein speaks at a rally in opposition to the Bladensburg Cross memorial in Maryland, Feb. 27, 2018 outside the Supreme Court.<br>Meredith Tibbetts/Stars and Stripes

Supreme Court: Is Peace Cross a war memorial or a Christian symbol?

The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether a giant cross, a memorial dedicated to 49 local men killed in World War I, is in keeping with the Constitution’s First Amendment and the separation of church and state. The outcome of the case could affect other veterans memorials nationwide.