Story Archives of 'Veterans'

New Hampshire politicians have joined veterans to push for the VA Medical Center in Manchester to be a full service hospital.

They delivered that message to The Secretary of the Veteran’s Administration earlier this week.

They claim Granite State veterans are shortchanged when it comes to VA services.

But as New Hampshire Public Radio’s David Darman reports, veterans across the country are frustrated by what they see as a lack of access to healthcare.

Granite Staters have been part of the Iraq war since it began five years ago. After their deployments have ended, many have returned to normal life, while others have gone back for second and third tours of duty. And some have come back injured, or dealing with mental or emotional scars. We look at how New Hampshire's military servicemen and women have adapted to life after war and what aid the state is providing.

Guests

• Al Porsche, Counselor at the Manchester Vet Center for United States Department of Veterans Affairs
• Sargeant Jeff Alford,, 48-year-old army vet who served for 5 months in Baghdad before becoming injured.
• Sargeant Greg McGrady ,36-year-old Iraq veteran who returned from war in 2004.
• Terrie Raposo ,Head clinician for the V/A Medical Center . Terry and her staff are the first to evaluate and recommend treatment to vets once they return to New Hampshire.
• Matt Bernard , New Hampshire Iraq War veteran who returned in 2006. Matt is currently working on a series of documentary on other New Hampshire war veterans.

Several presidential candidates made campaign stops in the state to tout policies related to veterans.

NHPR's Dianne Finch has more.

The Front Porch will be preempted this evening for a special NHPR Veterans’ Day program from The Living Well Show.
The impact of war is usually measured by the number of deaths, the number of casualties, and the financial costs involved. But war creates many invisible wounds that are harder to quantify – and harder to deal with. Edward Tick, author of War and the Soul, found that traditional psychotherapy wasn’t adequate treatment for the emotional and psychological damages inflicted on the battlefield, so he studied the traditions of Native Americans, Greeks and other cultures. Host Shamaan C. C. Eagle talks with Dr. Tick about his studies.

You can listen to this program (and write a review of it) at the Public Radio Exchange.

For some wounded and disabled Iraq veterans, recovery can be a long road.

A pilot program in the North Country is trying to shorten that trip.

It puts vets behind the wheel of a car and teaches them to drive rally races.

But as NHPR correspondent Chris Jensen reports, the program also gives them far more.