• Obama lays wreath, honors nation's veterans

    At the Arlington cemetery in Virginia, President Barack Obama paid tribute to veterans. "Each year on the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause as a nation and as a people to pay tribute to you," the president said. NBC's Lester Holt has more.

    By NBC News staff and news services

    President Barack Obama honored the nation’s military veterans on Sunday, paying tribute at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington Memorial Cemetery to "the heroes over the generations who have served this country of ours with distinction." 

    In keeping with tradition, he laid a wreath he laid at Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., an act he said was intended to "remember every service member who has ever worn our nation's uniform."

    Obama said in a speech at the cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater that America will never forget the sacrifice made by its veterans and their families. 

    Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

    President Barack Obama places a Veterans Day wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Sunday.

    "Whenever America has come under attack, you’ve risen to her defense. Whenever our freedoms have come under assault, you’ve responded with resolve," the president said.

    "Today, the proud nation expresses our gratitude but we do so mindful that no ceremony or parade, no hug or handshake is enough to truly honor that service."

    Obama also noted, "This is the first Veterans Day in a decade in which there are no American troops dying and fighting in Iraq" -- a statement that drew polite applause from the crowd.

    Slideshow: Veterans Day

    Carlo Allegri / Reuters

    The country expresses its gratitude for veterans and their service with ceremonies and parades.

    Launch slideshow

    The president touted the work of first l ady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, for their involvement with the Joining Forces campaign, which urges businesses to hire veterans. He also reaffirmed his commitment to continuing the post-9/11 GI Bill program, which provides college education funding for those who have served, and said soldiers suffering war-related health problems will get the care they need.    

    "No one who fights for this country overseas should everhave to fight for a job, or a roof over their head, or the carethat they have earned when they come home,'' he said.

    After the speech, Obama visited Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60, the final resting place for the service members who lost their lives during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Dozens of family members and individuals were at the area paying respects. The president and first lady talked quietly with some of them.

    The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.

    More Veterans Day stories:

    More content from NBCNews.com:

    Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

  • 'Historic' crop of Iraq, Afghanistan veterans storming Washington, D.C.

    Paul Beaty / AP

    Tammy Duckworth, seen celebrating with husband Bryan Bowlsbey in Elk Grove Villiage, Ill., on Tuesday night, defeated challenger Rep. Joe Walsh for Illinois' 8th congressional district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

    A record 16 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were elected to Congress on Tuesday night and two more veterans remained locked in races Wednesday that were too close to call.

    The winners included nine first-time officeholders and seven incumbents.

    All but two of the victorious veterans seeking U.S. House and U.S. Senate seats represent the Republican Party. They included Brad Wenstrup, who deployed to Iraq in 2005 as a combat surgeon. Wenstrup will represent Ohio’s 2nd congressional district which sits east of Cincinnati.

    For the Democrats, Tammy Duckworth captured Illinois’ 8th congressional district, which spans Chicago’s northern suburbs. Duckworth, who served as a captain in the Army National Guard, lost both of her legs and partial use of her right arm when her helicopter was shot down over Iraq in 2004. She becomes the first female veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan to serve in Congress.

    “It’s a very powerful moment. She also became the first severely wounded veteran to be elected,” said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive officer of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan group representing veterans of those two wars. “We are looking to her to really reach beyond politics and lead us all forward. She can be our generation’s John McCain or Max Cleland.”

    McCain, an Arizona senator and the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee, was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, breaking both arms and a leg and becoming a prisoner of war. Cleland, a former Democrat senator from Georgia, earned the Silver Star and Bronze Star during the Vietnam War, losing both legs above the knee and his right forearm to a grenade explosion.

    The 16 veteran victories — the largest single wave of former service members heading to Congress since the 1980s, according to IAVA — represent “a huge step forward for the new veterans movement and a huge step forward for America,” Rieckhoff told NBC News. He called those collective outcomes "historic." 

    “What we’ve seen from this community is an extraordinary focus on country as well as some pragmatic solutions. We believe these folks can work together across party lines and be a shot in the arm in Washington — exactly what America needs right now,” said Rieckhoff, who served as a first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq during 2003 and 2004.

    “People think all we’re really doing over there is pulling triggers and dropping bombs. We’re also rebuilding schools, rebuilding infrastructure,” he added. “There’s no better testing ground for a political career than, say, helping the people of Fallujah (Iraq) get their water running again. Think about Staten Island right now — that’s (looking) like Fallujah.”

    Overall, post-9/11 veterans competed for 42 Congressional seats on Tuesday night.

    One of the most notable younger veterans to lose was Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts who had served in Afghanistan. He was beaten by Democrat Elizabeth Warren.  

    Related: In costliest-ever Senate race, Warren beats Brown for Mass. seat

    Rieckhoff predicted that at least one future U.S. president will emerge from the group of post-9/11 veterans who now hold congressional seats or who soon will head to Washington — “and maybe multiple presidents.”

    “These aren’t professional politicians,” he said. “These are folks who served overseas who came who and wanted to continue to serve. This has happened all the way back to George Washington and was true of (John) Kennedy, (Harry) Truman and the first President (George H.W.) Bush. As George Washington said, ‘When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen.’ ” 

    More election coverage from NBCNews.com:

    Follow NBC Politics on Twitter and Facebook

  • President Obama orders VA to expand suicide prevention services


    By Rebecca Ruiz, NBC News

    President Obama issued an executive order Friday tasking the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand its suicide prevention and mental health services.

    Under the order, VA is expected to increase its veteran crisis line by 50 percent by the end of the year; ensure that a veteran in distress is given access to a trained mental health worker in 24 hours or less; and launch a national 12-month suicide prevention campaign to educate veterans about available mental health services.

    The order reinforces some initiatives that VA has already undertaken.

     

    In April, VA announced that it would hire 1,600 mental health clinicians to meet surging demand, and the order instructs the agency to use loan repayment programs and scholarships, among other strategies, to recruit those professionals by June 2013.

    The order also asks VA to create at least 15 pilot projects in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services to address unfilled mental health staff vacancies and long wait times. The pilots, to be created within 180 days, will test the effectiveness of partnerships with community and rural health clinics as well as substance abuse treatment centers. 

    Related: Military hopes antidepressant nasal spray will prevent suicides

    Previous estimates have indicated that at least 6,000 veterans died by suicide annually in recent years; data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that about 18 veteran suicides occur daily.

    VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki praised the order in a statement released Friday morning, saying that the agency would work to implement its requirements immediately.

    "History shows that the costs of war will continue to grow for a decade or more after the wars have ended," Shinseki said. "The mental health and well-being of our brave men and women who have served the Nation is the highest priority for the Department of Veterans Affairs."

    Related: Monthly Army suicides reach all-time high in July

    The order targets not only immediate concerns about mental health care staffing and suicide prevention measures, but also long-term goals in understanding the science behind combat-related psychological wounds like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Along with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, VA is directed to develop a research plan that includes efforts to better diagnose and treat PTSD and TBI.

    The president delivered the order Friday as part of his visit to Fort Bliss in Texas, which marks the two-year anniversary of the end of combat operations in Iraq. He addressed troops at the Army post and held a roundtable discussion with service members and their families.

    Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter here.

    More content from NBCNews.com: 

    Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

     

     

  • McCaskill avoids direct hit on Akin over abortion remarks

    By NBC's Jamie Novogrod

    ST. CHARLES, Mo. – One day after Rep. Todd Akin vowed to stay in the race for US Senate, dismissing calls from across the Republican party to step aside, Sen. Claire McCaskill welcomed Akin back to the campaign by bashing him for abandoning veterans during his years in Congress.

     Visiting two VFW halls near St. Louis on Wednesday, McCaskill, the Democrat Akin is hoping to unseat here in Missouri, went through a list of Akin votes that took more than two minutes to recite.

     Audiences were mostly male and senior citizen.  Survivors of combat in Vietnam – and at least one World War II veteran – looked on beneath baseball caps decorated with military insignia as she accused Akin of blocking bonuses for troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan and voting against health care benefits for reservists and national guard members.

     “So that’s kind of the list,” McCaskill said of Akin’s voting record.  “Now, I don’t have a list like that."

     The attack did not include any mention of the recent controversy embroiling Akin.

     Sunday, Akin told a television interviewer that women could biologically prevent pregnancies resulting from what he called “legitimate rape.” 

     The remarks set off a firestorm, but Wednesday McCaskill only alluded to them broadly.

     During a press conference outside a VFW home in nearby Overland, McCaskill brushed aside questions about Akin’s future.

     “The voters have spoken, and he’s the nominee,” McCaskill said.

     “We’re going to draw the contrasts that I think are necessary so that voters know that he’s outside the mainstream, he’s very extreme,” she added later.

     Tuesday, Akin let a deadline for withdrawing from the Senate race pass.

    Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., confirms with TODAY's Matt Lauer that vice presidential candidate and fellow congressman Paul Ryan advised him to step down amid the fallout of comments he made about rape and abortion.

     He told NBC’s Matt Lauer during a Wednesday interview on the TODAY show that his nomination was a “decision made by the citizens of our state, not the party bosses.”

     McCaskill’s VFW visits were part of a so-called “Vets for Claire” listening tour that the campaign says was arranged prior to the Akin controversy.

     A VFW official in Overland asked reporters to hold McCaskill’s press conference outside the building, in order to keep the organization compliant with rules prohibiting political activity by 501(c)(3) charity groups.

  • Romney warns of perils of shrinking military at Memorial Day event

    Denis Poroy / Reuters

    Mitt Romney, center, war veteran Nick Popaditch, left, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., applaud during a Memorial Day event at the Veterans Museum & Memorial Center in San Diego on Monday.

    By NBC's Garrett Haake

    SAN DIEGO-- Mitt Romney took advantage of one of his largest crowds of the campaign season on Memorial Day to warn of the dangers of a shrinking U.S. military in a dangerous world.

    Echoing portions of his stump speech in which he cites the threat of a resurgent Russia, a nuclear Iran and a rising China as obstacles to an "American Century," Romney closed his speech at this Memorial Day tribute to veterans with a political message about a choice between divergent military philosophies this November.

    "We have two courses we can follow: One is to follow the pathway of Europe. To shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs. And they of course rely on the strength of America and they hope for the best. Were we to follow that kind of course, there would be no one that could stand to protect us," Romney told an audience his campaign said numbered roughly 5000 people.

    "The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none, with no comparable power anywhere in the world. We choose that course. We choose that course for America not just so that we can win wars, but so we can prevent wars."

    President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney both marked Memorial Day with speeches and politics wasn't far below the surface. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

    Regular rally trappings like pro-Romney signage were absent at this event, which took on a more solemn character than a traditional campaign stop. Romney did not mention or attack the President in his remarks today, which were instead focused on saluting military veterans and their families, including his predecessor in the role of Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, who joined him on stage Monday.

    "We're a nation that has been formed and preserved by heroes," Romney said. "John McCain is one of them."

    Obama honors fallen troops on Memorial Day

    McCain, for his part, also praised Romney, calling him "fully qualified to be commander in chief."

    The two men and their pro-military message were warmly received here under the blazing midday sunlight. San Diego is home to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, and Naval Base San Diego is the largest such military community on the West Coast.