Military

Members of the state Senate Veterans Affairs Committee had pointed questions for officials with the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs about the agency’s response to an outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home that has resulted in at least 27 resident deaths from COVID-19-related complications.

Female soldiers share some of the same battlefields and challenges as their male counterparts but the contributions of women in the military have received faint recognition.

UPDATED 4:35 p.m. | Sen. Dick Durbin says he wants to know if an Air National Guard firehouse project in Peoria is among those put at risk by the president’s push for a border wall.

The U.S. military has identified five Marines, including one from Tremont, who were declared dead after their refueling plane collided with a fighter jet last week off Japan's southern coast.

A woman who comes from one of McLean County’s most well-known military families is trying to rally support for a passion project honoring local soldiers killed in World War I.

Bloomington-Normal is commemorating fallen soldiers and their families in a new way this holiday season.

The parents of a Bloomington native Army Ranger killed in combat earlier this year have established a memorial fund with a local organization.

A lot of military memorials honor service abroad.  But one being planned in Illinois will recognize those whose battle continued when they came home. 

There has been a dramatic rise in suicides among those who have served, mostly linked to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  A planned memorial in the state would call attention to that problem many don't want to talk about. 

The Forgotten Warrior Memorial could be built next year in Will County if enough  money is raised. Michael Tellerino is behind the effort. 

On Veterans Day, the nation honors the contributions of soldiers. War though, consumes men and women. It tires them, twists them, and shatters them in ways that make it difficult to re-accustom themselves to the home front.

State Farm Insurance employee Tom Huffington has started a group dedicated to saving the lives of soldiers who are struggling with life after the service. Some may be suicidal.

Vietnam veterans, vets from other wars, school children and other community members turned out yesterday for the first day of the American Veteran’s Traveling Tribute Memorial Wall which will be up through 2 p.m. Sunday at Evergreen Cemetery in Bloomington.

Member of Illinois' congressional delegation are appealing to the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in support of Scott Air Force Base's bid to host its new facility. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and other Illinois congressmen wrote a letter to NGA Director Robert Cardillo this week, urging him to select a 182-acre site in St. Clair County as the location of the agency's new $1.6 billion campus. Cardillo visited with U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Illinois' 12th congressional district and others in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.