By: Lisa Chedekel After months of delays, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed state Veterans Affairs Commissioner Linda Schwartz as the new Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning in the U.S. Department…
By: Peggy McCarthy | Conley Monk, a Vietnam War veteran who has been fighting for decades to have his military discharge status upgraded, expressed hope Friday that new Pentagon guidelines will help him and other…
With stores near military bases across the country, the retailer USA Discounters offers easy credit to service members. But when those loans go bad, the company uses the local courts near its Virginia headquarters to…
By: Peggy McCarthy Connecticut hospitals will be required to ask all patients if they are veterans, under a new state law that takes effect Oct. 1. The law is part of a nationwide effort conceived…
By: Peggy McCarthy An Army veteran deported to Italy nearly years two ago is attempting to return to his Connecticut family by seeking a pardon for drug and larceny convictions and a humanitarian parole that…
By: Peggy McCarthy Two national veterans’ advocacy groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saying it discriminates against victims of military sexual trauma who are seeking VA disability benefits….
By: Peggy McCarthy Five Vietnam War veterans, including a New Haven resident, filed a federal lawsuit Monday, claiming that they have been denied benefits and suffered stigma because they received “other than honorable” discharges due…
By: Peggy McCarthy In 2009, Edward LaPointe’s life hit bottom as he endured divorce, eviction, and homelessness. His earnings as a cab driver didn’t pay the bills and mental illness overwhelmed him. LaPointe, a Marine…
By: Susan Campbell In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, which abolished racial discrimination in the armed services. There was significant pushback – within and outside the military – but by the…
By: Peggy McCarthy | 9 hours ago Connecticut is far behind in the goal to end homelessness among veterans by the federal 2015 deadline. Despite efforts since 2010, when the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs launched…
By: Tamara Lytle Connecticut Veterans’ Affairs Commissioner Linda S. Schwartz made it clear Wednesday that her approach to a top federal Veterans Affairs job is personal. Schwartz, after 10 years leading Connecticut’s department, is nominated…
By: Peggy McCarthy After honorable discharges from the Army in 1979, and the National Guard in 1983, Arnold Giammarco sunk into a pattern of substance abuse, shoplifting and jail before turning his life around, marrying…
By: Peggy McCarthy U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and two colleagues have asked the Obama administration to change the military’s pre-trial process in sexual assault cases, saying it allows victims to be questioned in an “intimidating…
By: Peggy McCarthy When Maureen Gard, who served in the Marines, goes running the flashbacks come: riding in the platoon leader’s car, the jokes about her bra size, the fondling, and the pinning her down….
By: Peggy McCarthy After U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki Thursday praised the VA’s Hartford regional office as a top performer in reducing disability claims backlogs, U.S Sen. Richard Blumenthal stood next to him…
Written By: Tamara Lytle The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs suppressed information that shows links between health problems of veterans and the dangers they were exposed to in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gulf War, according…
Written By: Meg Heckman On most Thursdays, a small group of patients assembles at the VA hospital in West Haven because they share a common disease – hepatitis C – and a common treatment —…
Field records from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, needed to document combat injuries, disability claims and the simple history of both wars, were never kept, were destroyed or simply cannot be found, a ProPublica-Seattle…
Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman today unveiled a new state website created to give military veterans one-stop access to the wide range of veterans’ services and benefits offered by the state…
Written by Lisa Chedekel When the state Department of Veterans’ Affairs recently advertised a job opening for a veterans’ service officer, 73 veterans applied, many of them younger men and women who had served in…