Amvets gets grant to expand services
The Call of Duty Endowment, an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit organization that helps groups that provide job placement and training services for veterans, said it has awarded a $250,000 grant to Lanham-based Amvets to help it expand its operations in 20 markets around the country.
Laws commission: Improve child custody rules for military
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A national legal panel that works to standardize state laws wants to simplify child custody rules for military service members, whose frequent deployments can leave them without clear legal recourse when family disputes erupt. The Uniform Law Commission, an influential group of some 350 attorneys appointed by all the states, met in […]
Heat stifles Md. Civil War encampment
FREDERICK — The National Park Service says it’s too hot for a Civil War anniversary event at the Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick. The agency said Friday it’s cancelling a living-history encampment and three artillery demonstrations that were set for Sunday. The National Weather Service is predicting a high of 96 degrees in Frederick on […]
Many Americans have throwback Fourth without power
MOUNT VERNON, Va. — George Washington never had air conditioning, but he knew how to keep cool: a mansion with lots of windows elevated on the banks of a wide, rolling river and lots of ice cream, maybe with a little brandy. It was a little like the old days without electricity Wednesday, as the […]
Supreme Court torn over law banning lies about medals
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided Wednesday over a law that makes it a crime to lie about having been awarded top military honors. The justices engaged in spirited debate over the constitutionality of a 2006 law aimed at curbing false claims about military exploits. Some justices said they worried that upholding the […]
Dover mortuary whistleblowers shocked by problems
WYOMING, Del. — Three whistleblowers whose complaints about the handling of soldiers’ remains led to an investigation of the nation’s largest military mortuary in Delaware say they were shocked and disturbed by some of the practices they witnessed. The workers at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary also told The Associated Press on Friday that […]
Bernanke seeks to reassure vets in weak economy
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday tried to reassure U.S. soldiers, a group hit hard by high unemployment, that the Fed is working to strengthen the economy. In a speech at a military base in El Paso, Texas, Bernanke told the soldiers and their families that the Fed is trying to lower […]
Condensing the Civil War is no easy task
McLEAN, Va. — The list of battles is daunting even for the most fervent Civil War enthusiast: Bull Run, Shiloh, the Seven Days Battles at Richmond, second Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Appomattox. And many more in between. So when re-enactor Troy Fallin surveys the lineup of events marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil […]
Delta changes policy on soldiers’ bag fees
WASHINGTON — Delta Air Lines hastily changed its baggage fees for troops Wednesday after a YouTube video showed soldiers complaining that they had to pay $200 apiece to check extra bags as they made their way home from Afghanistan. The video was posted Tuesday and was viewed almost 200,000 times before it was removed by […]
Snyder will fight Westboro on court costs, lawyer says
WASHINGTON — The father of a Marine killed in Iraq won’t pay the nearly $100,000 in court costs charged by Westboro Baptist Church, which picketed his son’s 2006 funeral, in the wake of his unsuccessful lawsuit against the group, his lawyer said. “We’re not just going to write them a check,” Sean Summers, lawyer for […]
House votes to repeal ban on open gays in military
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that for 17 years has forced gays desiring to serve in the military to conceal their sexual identity. The 250-175 vote propels the issue to the Senate for what could be the last chance for now to end the 1993 law […]