Quil Lawrence
Quil Lawrence is a New York-based correspondent for NPR News, covering veterans' issues nationwide. He won a Robert F. Kennedy Award for his coverage of American veterans and a Gracie Award for coverage of female combat veterans. In 2019 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America honored Quil with its IAVA Salutes Award for Leadership in Journalism.
Lawrence started his career in radio by interviewing con men in Tangier, Morocco. He then moved to Bogota, Colombia, and covered Latin America for NPR, the BBC, and The LA Times.
In the Spring of 2000, a Pew Fellowship sponsored his first trips to Iraq — that reporting experience eventually built the foundation for his first book, Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East (Bloomsbury, 2009).
Lawrence has reported from throughout the Arab world and from Sudan, Cuba, Pakistan, Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan for twelve years, serving as NPR's Bureau Chief in Baghdad and Kabul. He covered the fall of the Taliban in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the second battle of Fallujah in 2004, as well as politics, culture, and war in both countries.
In 2012, Lawrence returned to the U.S. to cover the millions of men and women who have served at war, both recently and in past generations. NPR is possibly unique among major news organizations in dedicating a full-time correspondent to veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
A native of Maine, Lawrence studied history at Brandeis University, with concentrations in the Middle East and Latin America. He is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Arabic.
-
McDonough, who did not serve in the military, is a longtime aide of former President Barack Obama.
-
The newest monument on the National Mall, which opens on Veterans Day, will provide a quiet shrine for Native vets to visit. Native Americans have traditionally served in high numbers.
-
Despite this year's Gold Star event landing amid the pandemic, the White House didn't cancel it. President Trump says when he met these family members, he couldn't bear to keep them at arms-length.
-
The comedian and activist is helping to launch a new campaign to fight for war veterans who say they are sick because of exposure to burn pits and other toxins in Afghanistan and Iraq.
-
The Trump Administration's new suicide prevention strategy mentions the touchy subject of gun-safety. It will aim to fight the stigma around people seeking help during a mental health crisis.
-
The Department of Veterans Affairs is no longer blocking several schools that the Federal Trade Commission penalized for deceptive advertising from enrolling GI Bill students.
-
The Department of Veterans Affairs has a male-focused motto that some veterans and lawmakers say needs updating.
-
The officer, 39-year-old David Afanador, was suspended the same day the cellphone video appeared to show him choking a Black man on a Queens boardwalk.
-
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has approved changes that have been vehemently opposed by police unions for years — including allowing the public to access police officers' past disciplinary records.
-
Thousands of people who were planning to visit war memorials in Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day had to cancel this year. That includes veterans traveling with the nonprofit network Honor Flight.