Storm chaser video lays bare the violence and horror of ‘nuclear-grade’ Hurricane Dorian striking the northwest Bahamas

Josh Morgerman provides harrowing video and gripping testimony revealing what residents of the northwestern Bahamas endured

By Matthew Cappucci Washington Post September 12, 2019 at 3:34 PM EDT

Aug. 7 is Purple Heart Day – a day to honor American service members killed or wounded in service.

The Purple Heart award was created in 1782 by George Washington. It stands as the oldest military decoration that continues to be awarded today.

More than 1.8 million service members have received the decoration.

The Department of Defense, along with several branches of the U.S. military, recognized Purple Heart Day today with videos and photos showcasing some of the brave Purple Heart recipients in history.

Today is Purple Heart Day.

To the 1.8 million Purple Heart recipients, we honor you. #PurpleHeartDay pic.twitter.com/h9EcuwBykA
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) August 7, 2019

On this #PurpleHeartDay, we honor the brave service members who have sacrificed for this nation. #HonorThem pic.twitter.com/xE4aSNVLJk
— U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) August 7, 2019

George Washington established the Purple Heart on this day in 1782. Today, the medal is awarded to U.S. military personnel killed or wounded in the line of duty. #PurpleHeartDay pic.twitter.com/uCfzbmVGno
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) August 7, 2019

We Celebrate All “Rosies” from Wars Past, Present and, God Forbid, Future.

Real-Life ‘Rosie the Riveters’ Reflect On Crucial Role in WW2

D-Day’s Dying Legacy

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE – JUNE 03: Charles Shay (C-R), a U.S. veteran of the D-Day invasion and an elder of the Penobscot Native American nation, and other U.S. and British World War II veterans gather at the U.S. 1st Infantry Division memorial on a hill that overlooks Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the sacrifices of the 1st Infantry in the World War II Allied D-Day invasion on June 03, 2019 in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. Shay served as a medic and was in the first wave of soldiers that landed at Omaha, where the 1st Infantry Division sustained terrible losses when it encountered dug-in German resistance. Veterans, families, visitors and military personnel are gathering in Normandy to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the invasion, which heralded the Allied advance towards Germany and victory about 11 months later. Shay went on to serve in other World War II battles including the Battle of the Bulge. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The last survivors of the Normandy invasion—and history’s worst war—are almost gone. How long will the international system they helped create survive them?

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Last few remaining U.S. veterans thanked on 75th anniversary of D-Day

*American military veterans in Omaha Beach in Normandy, France,*
*on Wednesday. Lucie Mach / for NBC News*

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — Most were little more than boys when they fought in one of the greatest battles in modern history and turned the Nazi tide. And now they are back.

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D-Day at 75: Nations honor aging veterans, fallen comrades

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, talks to French war veteran Leon Gautier, a member of the Kieffer commando, during a ceremony to pay homage to the Kieffer commando, Thursday, June 6, 2019 in Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy. The Kieffer commando, an elite French unit, was among the first waves of Allied troops to storm the heavily defended beaches of Nazi-occupied northern France, beginning the liberation of western Europe. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — Standing on the windswept beaches and bluffs of Normandy, a dwindling number of aging veterans of history’s greatest air and sea invasion received the thanks and praise of a world transformed by their sacrifice.

The mission now, they said, was to honor the dead and keep their memory alive, 75 years after the D-Day operation that portended the end of World War II.

“We know we don’t have much time left, so I tell my story so people know it was because of that generation, because of those guys in this cemetery,” said 99-year-old Steve Melnikoff of Maryland, standing at Colleville-Sur-Mer, where thousands of Americans are buried

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This Memorial Day, veterans take on another threat: rising cancer deaths in the ranks

On Memorial Day 2013, Coleen Bowman was a new widow. Her husband had died four months earlier and she wanted support to face that first military holiday of remembrance. So she registered for TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, and spent the weekend with hundreds of other grieving military families.
“There was a lot of KIAs,” Coleen said, referring to those “killed in action.”
But that was not how Coleen’s husband had died, and it made her feel more alone.
“It was like, ‘Oh, your husband died of an illness.’”

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First African American woman set to graduate from U.S. Army Ranger School

Sgt. 1st. Class Janina Simmons completed U.S. Army Ranger School Friday, making her the first female, African American soldier to graduate from the course.

Simmons, 29, is based out of Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and now joins the more than a dozen women who have completed the grueling 62-day training course, giving her the right to wear the coveted black and gold Ranger tab.

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Gold Star widow “shocked” by new tax bill on sons’ survivor benefits

Many Americans were shocked by their tax bills this month. The new law was especially costly for our nation’s Gold Star families, who saw the taxes owed on their survivor benefits skyrocket.

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‘Parking Lot’ Suicides Roil VA Hospitals

In a tragic and disturbing trend, veterans are resorting to suicide on the grounds of VA facilities, VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin said last week.

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