5 things to know in veterans news: An ex-POW is honored, a GLP-1 study advances and a Grand Prix race in DC

WASHINGTON — The first IndyCar Grand Prix series to hit the streets of the nation’s capital will roll on Aug. 22-23, featuring racing celebrities competing in open-wheel races, in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday.

Some of the drivers for the event met recently with President Donald Trump outside the West Wing to announce the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which has the motto: “Let freedom rev!”

“Incredible day and one I’ll never forget,” said David Malukas, a 24-year-old driver in his debut season for Team Penske. “It was my first time getting to see the White House and truly see it, getting a special tour from the president. It was such a cool experience to do an IndyCar pit stop for the first time at the White House.”

President Donald Trump receives a racing helmet from IndyCar series champion Alex Palou during a White House announcement about the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix event in Washington. (Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)

The 1.7-mile, seven-turn course will circle the National Mall and feature a high-speed 0.4-mile run down Pennsylvania Avenue, framed by the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, according to organizers.

The free, two-day motorsports event is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of fans to the nation’s capital, according to organizers.

Organizers of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix confirmed that the military will be featured at the event but said that the details of the participation are being finalized.

Recent White House events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S. have heavily featured active-duty personnel, service flags, and branch representations.

Those events included a UFC cage match on the South Lawn, which had a large military presence, and the Great American State Fair, complete with a Ferris wheel, military ensembles and a flyover.

A funeral with full military honors was held for Air Force veteran Robert Stirm at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on July 29, 2026. Stirm was 92 when he died in October 2025. (Elizabeth Fraser/Arlington National Cemetery)

Lorrie Stirm Kitching, Robert Stirm’s daughter, received the U.S. flag during her father’s funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on July 29, 2026. (Elizabeth Fraser/Arlington National Cemetery)

Former Vietnam POW featured in iconic photo is remembered

A former prisoner of war in Vietnam who was the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo that celebrated his homecoming for a national audience was remembered at a funeral service in Arlington National Cemetery. Robert “Bob” Stirm, an Air Force veteran, received full military honors that included a horse-drawn procession for his burial on July 29. Stirm died last year on Veterans Day.

Lorrie Stirm Kitching, Stirm’s oldest daughter, received the U.S. flag at the service. On Oct. 27, 1967, the F-105 Thunderchief that Stirm piloted was shot down by a surface-to-air missile during a bombing mission over Hanoi. 

Although Stirm successfully ejected from the plane, he was shot multiple times while parachuting to the ground.

“The North Vietnamese quickly took Stirm prisoner, beginning his long captivity and torture in POW camps that included the infamous Hanoi Hilton,” according to an obituary posted on the Arlington National Cemetery website.

Stirm, then a major, spent more than five years — 1,966 days, to be exact — in prison camps.

He survived gunshot wounds, illness, starvation, torture and mock executions during confinement, according to Smithsonian magazine.

On Jan. 21, 1973, Lorrie recalled that she was in a doughnut shop when she heard the news that her father was part of a group of 591 POWs to be released and sent home.

Stirm’s wife, Loretta, and their four children greeted Stirm three months later, as he stepped off a plane and strode across the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base, in California.

A funeral with full military honors was held for Robert “Bob” Stirm, a retired Air Force colonel who survived nearly six years as a POW in the Vietnam War. This photo, taken in March 1973, showed the joy of a family reunion in California, upon his release. The photo received a Pulitzer Prize and became a symbol of the end of U.S. involvement in the war. (Sal Veder/AP)

A photographer with The Associated Press captured the spontaneous joy of the family reunion on March 17, 1973, which included Lorrie, then 15, running toward her father, her arms held wide for an embrace.

Sal Veder’s black-and-white picture was published widely and won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for photography. It became a visual symbol of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

Stirm served in the military for 25 years, retiring as a colonel in 1977.

VA to test GLP-1 drug for alcohol addiction

The Department of Veterans Affairs has started recruiting veterans to participate in clinical trials to test the effectiveness of semaglutide, a GLP-1 drug prescribed for diabetes, to treat alcohol use disorder, the agency announced.

Multiple VA medical facilities will take part in the study, and veterans who are interested in participating should contact their local VA provider or visit ClinicalTrials.gov and search for a trial in their area, the VA said.

GLP-1 medications have become popular for weight loss, with about 11% of adults actively using them for weight management, according to Gallup. Brand-name drugs include Ozempic and Wegovy.

The VA trial will enroll more than 600 veterans. They must have a diagnosis of “moderate or severe” alcohol use disorder, according to the VA.

Participants will receive weekly injections of either semaglutide or a placebo over six months.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R.-Alaska, a retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel, introduced the POLAR Act to advance the Office of Polar Programs. Sullivan, who served for 30 years in the Marine Corps, emphasized the role of Alaska’s Arctic research institutes to strengthen national security and Arctic defense. Alaska’s Toolik Field Station, a research facility, is shown in this photo. (NEON Science)

Sen. Sullivan promotes Alaska’s strategic value

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R.-Alaska, a retired Marine Corps Reserve colonel, joined Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R.-Alaska, to introduce a bill to advance the strategic value of Alaska in national security and Arctic defense.

The Promoting Operational Leadership in Arctic and Antarctic Research (POLAR) Act will enhance support for the National Science Foundation in polar research, he said.

Sullivan, who served for 30 years in the Marine Corps, emphasized the role of Alaska’s Arctic research facilities to strengthen national security and Arctic defense.

Alaska’s unique geographic position makes the last frontier a first line of defense for missile tracking, and a key aviation and maritime crossroads in the changing Arctic, according to Army University Press.

The POLAR Act would make the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs permanent. The office helps manage major Arctic research facilities, such as the Toolik Field Station, operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

“The Summer of ‘71” is a new novel by Army veteran Hector Rodriguez who is also the son of a veteran. The book follows the adventures of children growing up in a military family.  (Hector Rodriguez)

Army veteran’s novel chronicles the lives of military families

Hector M. Rodriguez, a former Army sergeant and prolific author, writes about the lives of children growing up in military families in his new book, “The Summer of ’71.”

Rodriguez’s novel follows the adventures of children on a quest to find a World War II bunker while their parents are serving in the U.S. military in Germany.

Rodriguez, 66, a disabled veteran and the son of a former service member, has published 10 other books.

His latest novel “is a story about four boys, a promise made in the dark, a one-armed German farmer who asked only one question in return for everything he gave, and the 50 years it took one man to finally write it all down,” according to a description on Amazon.

Rodriguez served in the Army for three years, with deployments to Europe. He later worked for the Department of Energy at the former Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state, now a decommissioned production complex, and at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, which operates multiple sites.

Rodriguez offers “The Summer of ‘71” and his other books on his website, hectorsbooks.com. He said he hopes to turn his latest novel into a film.