A few years ago I was contacted by a veteran's wife who told me her imprisoned Vietnam-era Navy veteran husband was being persecuted by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the U.S. Department of Justice. Thousands of man-hours of research later, I say there is no question that she's right about her husband and not just him.

I work as a veteran's advocate and staff writer for Veterans Today, and I'm honoring Veterans Day. It's personal for me, not because my father's a veteran or my girlfriend's father is a veteran, it's because I'm proud that I do a piss-load of work for veterans, it straight-up makes me a better person.

NEW YORK – The famed Navajo Code Talkers, the elite Marine unit whose unbreakable code stymied the Japanese in World War II, fear their legacy will die with them.

Only about 50 of the 400 Code Talkers are believed to be still alive, most living in the Navajo Nation reservation that spans Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Many are frail or ill, with little time left to tell the world about their wartime contribution.

Madison, Wisconsin - Clarence Kailin, age 95, of Madison, passed away peacefully of a stroke on Oct. 25, 2009, at St. Mary's Hospital, Madison, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born Aug. 20, 1914, in Madison, the son of Russian immigrants Louis Kailin and Stella Schwid. He attended Randall grade school and Wisconsin High School and briefly enrolled in the University of Wisconsin.

He was a renowned social activist who led by example, building movements for unemployment compensation and against mortgage foreclosures, organizing the Steel Workers and the CIO. He was chief steward of his AFSCME Local at the U of WI.

He fought South African apartheid, racist injustice and discrimination in housing and employment; against intervention in sovereign nations, campaigning vigorously against the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As a Jew he welcomed the creation of Israel, but championed the right of Palestinians to live free in their own land, identified with the Israeli peace movement's condemnation of Israeli apartheid and opposed the use of U.S. tax dollars to underwrite it.

Joel McNally sets the record straight in the Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin) on the segment of America who oppose President Obama in anything, the anti-American GOP. Bitter does not comprise all Republicans.

I know plenty of Republicans and few fit this description. But as McNally points out, "The angry opposition of Republicans to President Obama now has deteriorated into opposition to anything that is good for their own country under Obama's leadership. ... More and more Americans are starting to notice Republicans have crossed the line into trashing America itself and opposing anything that would benefit the American people."

Artist hopes to paint 100 personnel who served in Iraq, Afghanistan

Retired Army Sgt. Richard Yarosh has gotten used to the stares. His face is blanketed in knotty scar tissue. His nose tip is missing. His ears are gone, as is part of his right leg. His fingers are permanently bent and rigid.

All is the result of an explosion in Iraq that doused him in fuel and fire three years ago.

Pie-splattered comedian Soupy Sales dies

Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83.

Sales died at Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.

by Bryant Jordan -

After seven years of forced silence, a government whistleblower is opening up on what she learned while working as a Turkish translator for the FBI in the wake of 9/11.

In sworn testimony to attorneys on Aug. 8, Sibel Edmonds described a Pentagon where key personnel helped pass defense secrets to foreign agents or provided them names of knowledgeable officials who were vulnerable to blackmail or co-option.

By Rachel Streitfeld CNN

PURCELLVILLE, Virginia (CNN) -- When the Army flew home the body of Spc. Stephan Mace from Afghanistan, his mother climbed aboard a small jet with the flag-draped coffin for the last leg of his trip.

Vanessa Adelson would not let her 21-year-old son make his final journey home alone.

Lt. Col. Sandra Colburn Duiker put in her service. - by Susan Harrison Wolffis - After serving six tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, setting up aeromedical evacuation hospitals and tending the most seriously wounded, Lt. Col. Sandra Colburn Duiker is ready to hang up her wings.

At the age of 66.  “It’s time for this grandma to stay home,” she said in a telephone interview from her retirement home in Cosse, Texas.

The Associated Press

PRESCOTT, Ariz. -- Willard Varnell Oliver, a member of the Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, died Wednesday. He was 88.

Lawrence Oliver said his father died at the Northern Arizona Veterans Administration Health Care System Hospital in Prescott, Ariz. He had been declining health for the past two years.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. ordered flags on the Navajo Nation to be flown at half-staff from Oct. 15-19 in honor of Oliver, who is at least the fifth Code Talker to die since May.

By Larry Stimeling, Staff Writer

Here is an update on last month's story about James Richard Lyons, the driver of the truck that carries the Wall That Heals from one location to another.

James, as you may recall, has claimed to be a gunny in the Marines who enlisted in the Navy and served 4 tours in Vietnam from 64 to 68 even though he was in high school in 66. Here, as Paul Harvey would say is the rest of the story.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. A Delta Force sniper whose heroism during an often-told street battle in Somalia earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor has been honored by a North Carolina military museum.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that the city's Airborne & Special Operations Museum dedicated a paver stone Saturday in honor of Army Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart.

This year's Veterans parade in New York is a special commemoration marking the 90th Anniversary of Veteran's Day (1919-2009).

Hosted by the United War Veterans Council on behalf of the City of New York, the Veterans Day parade is the largest of its kind in the nation, providing an opportunity for New Yorkers and visitors from across our country (and around the world!) to honor those who have preserved our freedoms.

By Jeff Schogol Stars and Stripes

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Congress will ask the Defense Department to review its procedures for awarding the Purple Heart to troops suffering from traumatic brain injury, whom some lawmakers feel are being overlooked by the awards process.

Senator John C. Stennis (Mississippi) was a racial segregationist and ardent civil rights foe. And the Navy honored him in 1995 by commissioning the seventh Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, USS John C. Stennis.

The Navy announced yesterday that the civil rights leader Medgar Evers will be honored today with a Navy supply ship named for Evers.

Stennis was a disgrace, Evers a hero.

Committee praises ‘extraordinary efforts’ to strengthen diplomacy

The Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces Wins the Worlds's Respect for Peace

OSLO, Norway - President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The stunning choice made Obama the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Peace Prize and shocked Nobel observers because Obama took office less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

By Larry Stimeling Staff Writer 

James Richard Lyons is a hero. He joined the Navy in 1964 at age 17. James went through some of the military' most rigorous training schools, including;

SEAL Training Force Recon, Jungle Warfare Training in Panama, and Special weapons in Quantico. 

James served 4 tours in Vietnam and attained the rank of GySgt. He received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. That is a lot for a four year enlistment.

But there is a problem, A BIG PROBLEM!!!

Says All Americans Should Honor the Sacrifices of this Remarkable Group

To recognize Gold Star Mothers Sunday, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) paid tribute to this extraordinary group of women who have lost their sons and daughters in service to our country. Congressman Sestak, who served in the Navy for 31 years rising to the rank of 3-star admiral, is the highest ranking former military officer to serve in Congress. Today, he called for a renewed commitment that, as a nation, we never forget the incredible sacrifices made of our Veterans families, without whom we could not have a secure America.

 In honor of National POW/MIA Recognition Day, which takes place annually on the third Friday of September, Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-07) paid tribute to an extraordinary group of American Veterans-former prisoners of war (POW) and service members missing in action (MIA).  Congressman Sestak, who served in the Navy for 31 years rising to the rank of 3-star admiral, is the highest ranking former military officer to serve in Congress. 

Today, he called for a renewed commitment that, as a nation, we continue to stand behind all our Veterans, honor the special sacrifices made by our POWs, and ensure that no soldier is ever left behind in combat.

by Rees Lloyd

            The third Friday of September is annual “POW/MIA Recognition Day,” a day to remember the service and suffering of prisoners of war, and those still missing in action --  and their families; a day to honor them, and to reaffirm the commitment to search for and bring home the MIAs.

            It is one of six days on which Congress has mandated that the National League of Families POW/MIA Flag be flown over the Capitol, the White House, military bases, veterans memorials and cemeteries, post offices, and other locations nationwide. (36 U.S. Code Section 902)

            There are still over 88,000 American military personnel listed as missing in action, from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. Searching for, and bringing home the MIAs, is an extremely difficult but most meaningful effort: Most recently, the remains of the last of 49 Americans listed as missing in action in  Operation Desert Storm, U.S. Navy Captain Michael Scott Speicer, were identified in Iraq and returned home to his family in August.

East Room, 2:00 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Please be seated.  Good afternoon, and welcome to the White House.

Of all the privileges serving as President, there's no greater honor than serving as Commander-in-Chief of the finest military that the world has ever known.  And of all the military decorations that a President and a nation can bestow, there is none higher than the Medal of Honor.

It has been nearly 150 years since our nation first presented this medal for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.  And in those nearly 150 years -- through civil war and two world wars, Korea and Vietnam, Desert Storm and Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, and countless battles in between -- tens of millions of Americans have worn the uniform.  But fewer than 3,500 have been recognized with the Medal of Honor.  And in our time, these remarkable Americans are literally one in a million.  And today we recognize another -- Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti.

WASHINGTON – On Thursday, September 17th, the President will award Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sergeant First Class Monti will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in combat in Afghanistan.

Then-Staff Sergeant Monti displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor - eventually sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his comrade. Sergeant First Class Monti’s parents, Paul Monti and Janet Monti, will join the President at the White House to commemorate their son’s example of selfless service and sacrifice.

Press cites now-former green jobs advisor's past support of new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal as grounds for resignation...

By Ernest A. Canning US Army Vietnam Veteran

Separate articles appeared in Monday's New York Times and in the Washington Post. Both suggest that the resignation submitted by Van Jones, a special adviser for green jobs at the White House Council for Environmental Quality, were the result of inadequate White House "vetting."

Neither newspaper examined the question as to whether the true problem was the inability to withstand a smear campaign led by extreme right-wing whack jobs like Glenn Beck; an inability reflected by the Times' description of a "terse" acceptance of the resignation, with White House spokesman Robert Gibbs taking pains to stress that President Barack Obama "did not endorse" Jones' views.

LOS ANGELES POLICE CLOSE IN ON PROTESTING VETS

SHOULD PROTESTS END?

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER

Covering the 2 year protest in Los Angeles has been frustrating.  None of it is really about veteran's land.  How can land be veterans land if Veterans Affairs with their police force and locked gates run it?  Veterans land is being stolen across America.  This is one of a hundred things being done to veterans.  It isn't about land.  The issue is about people.

One question is how could police show up at a protest and harass vets, some WW2 vets in wheel chairs when their cause is so simple and so right?  Everyone knows that the Veterans Conservancy Park is a scam to steal all the land, not just part, and give it to businesses, not really for a public park.  Any idiot can figure this one out.

As a young Senate Liaison officer during the early 1980’s, I had the opportunity to get to know Senator Edward Kennedy who was then a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Senator Kennedy and his staff were among some of the best supporters the Marine Corps ever had on Capitol Hill.  Despite his many responsibilities, he always made time for me on issues of importance to Marines and their families. 

Always gracious and well informed, the Senator was instrumental in the passage of the landmark legislation known as Goldwater-Nichols and military pay reforms, which ushered in the most comprehensive reforms of our military and defense establishment since the end of World War II.

ONE OF AMERICA'S LARGEST MILITARY MUSEUM DISAPPEARS

"WHAT MUSEUM?  WE KNOW NOTHING"

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER

Chairman Editorial Board, Veterans Today

Months ago, our local Congressional office contacted me about helping locate missing historical artifacts that had been in America's second largest military museum, here in Toledo, Ohio. 

Built in 1886, this grand structure, now missing from the local skyline under "mysterious circumstances" contained thousands of uniforms, weapons, medals and more from the Civil War onward, worth millions of dollars.

Now nothing remains but a parking lot, a corner stone and a few leftovers saved by a dedicated group in Oregon, Ohio working to keep the history of our military heroes alive.  Where did the rest of it go?  Where do I start?  Items "disappeared" over a period of decades, some "went missing" quite recently.

For 25 years, veteran activist, Nick Hauptricht, has pursued this task.  What he has found is shocking.  Public records, news clippings, documents and filings of every kind tell a story, a tale of decades of incompetence and disrespect for our veterans.